IMAGINE...
A world where women are not constrained in their reproductive choices by an arbitrary, limited biological clock, where they could instead choose the right time for them to start their families. A world where women are healthy and strong late into life and are not subjected to the side effects of declining hormone levels.
Why Study Reproductive Aging?
TO ACHIEVE HEALTH EQUITY
The negative consequences of female reproductive aging are becoming more prevalent as women globally are delaying childbearing and more women are living well beyond menopause due to life-extending medical interventions and advances.
TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO OVERALL AGING
The female reproductive system in humans ages decades before other organs. It is the 'canary in the coal mine' for aging.
TO IMPROVE SYSTEMIC HEALTH
Aging of the reproductive system leads to:
Fewer and poorer quality eggs, which contributes to the fertility issues and increased complications with pregnancy seen in midlife.
Menopause, with its health concerns. Menopause sets off a cascade of negative effects in women’s bodies that impact bone, cognitive, cardiovascular, and immune function.
Making a Difference.
Women’s health, especially reproductive longevity, is chronically underfunded in biomedicine
of biopharma investment goes to female-specific conditions beyond cancer
of basic science research included female animals
of the NIH’s 2020 budget went to Women’s Health Research
We are changing the narrative around female reproductive health and equality.
NIH funding for reproductive longevity made up 0.1% (OR $40m) of its budget in 2018. Since the GCRLE’s founding, this figure has doubled and is growing.1
By the time a female reaches childbearing age, they have just 1% of the eggs they were born with left.
What if science could increase that to just 2%? The results would be life-changing. Read more about our vision to build the field of reproductive longevity.
KEY STATS
The average age of menopause
The chance a female over 40 has of becoming pregnant each month
The age at which fertility and ovarian function begin to rapidly accelerate their decline
Species of animals that go through menopause - just humans and some whales
Questions in reproductive longevity science
Because the field of reproductive longevity has been underfunded for so long, even fundamental biological questions remain unanswered.
Our mandate to accelerate the development of strategies that delay or prevent ovarian aging requires both immediate research action to answer fundamental questions and a long-term vision to leverage the answers when they are found. We are building the field to accelerate our understanding of basic biological mechanisms so we may intervene in ovarian aging to balance the scales.
Research Approaches
What are the key questions in reproductive longevity science? From genetic analysis to building new models for testing, find out more about where the research stands our grantees’ approaches, and everything female reproductive aging-related.
Common Questions
What is the GCRLE’s 5 and 10 year vision for reproductive longevity science? Where does the field currently stand? Find some answers to common questions.