Recently there was a Canadian study conducted that researched into the possibility of a woman ovulating twice in a single cycle. The study reported that follicles developed in waves rather than all together, leading to the assumption that women could and do ovulate more than once a cycle. However, this study has since been discredited as more information has come to light on the natural cycle of a woman’s body. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here
There is a fair bit of confusion on this subject due to the Canadian study and the fact that women are capable of getting pregnant and giving birth to multiple non-identical children at one time. The simple truth is that while a woman’s body can occasionally release more than one egg at one time, they aren’t able to ovulate more than once in a single menstrual and ovulation cycle.
In a natural ovulation cycle a woman’s body begins to secrete FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) which is a signal to the body to begin developing a follicle for ovulation. The follicle is thereafter called the “dominant follicle”, the one reserved for release and possible fertilization.
The follicles house eggs and when they are fully matured they are released to then be either fertilized during the ovulation window or slowly disintegrated to be flushed from the body, for the onset of your period. Occasionally when FSH is secreted during the beginning of menstruation two follicles can become a dominant follicle, each one beginning to grow and develop to mature the egg within.
If this happens, two eggs are then ready to become fertilized by sperm producing fraternal twins. The myth of ovulating twice during a single cycle gets it origins from this event, however at no time during the cycle does a woman’s body ovulate more than once.
Another possible origin of ovulating twice during a single cycle could be caused by what is known as superfetation: when a woman conceives a second baby while already pregnant. This is an extremely rare occurrence and there have been only a handful of cases in the last 20 years or so.
The way superfetation happens is when a woman’s menstrual cycle continues during a pregnancy; an egg is released from a separate ovulation cycle while the woman is already pregnant and then fertilized to begin developing alongside the first baby. The problem with superfetation is that the baby conceived later than the first is at risk of being born premature with the first and having developed less that its sibling.
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