Anovulatory cycle Anovulatory cycle The anovulatory cycle is a menstrual cycle characterized by varying degrees of menstrual intervals and the absence of ovulation and a luteal phase. In the absence of ovulation, there will be infertility. While the normal menstrual cycle in the human typically lasts 4 weeks (28 days, range 24–35 days) and consists of a follicular phase, ovulation, and a luteal phase, followed by either menstruation or pregnancy, the anovulatory cycle has cycle lengths of varying degrees. In many circumstances, menstrual intervals are prolonged exceeding 35 days leading to oligomenorrhea (cycle >35 – 180 days interval), or even longer, amenorrhea.
Menstrual cycle life, to be ovulated decades later, it has been suggested that this long lifetime may make the chromatin of eggs more vulnerable to division problems, breakage, and mutation than the chromatin of sperm, which are produced continuously during a man's reproductive life. However, despite this hypothesis, a similar paternal age effect has also been observed. As measured on women undergoing in vitro fertilization, a longer menstrual cycle length is associated with higher pregnancy and delivery rates, even after age adjustment. Delivery rates after IVF have been estimated to be almost doubled for women with a menstrual cycle length of more