Menstrual cycle shortest and longest cycle lengths is considered very irregular. The average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days. The variability of menstrual cycle lengths is highest for women under 25 years of age and is lowest, that is, most regular, for ages 25 to 39. Subsequently, the variability increases slightly for women aged 40 to 44. The luteal phase of the menstrual cycle is about the same length in most individuals (mean 14.13 days, standard deviation 1.41 days) whereas the follicular phase tends to show much more variability (log-normally distributed with 95% of individuals having follicular phases between 10.3 and 16.3 days).
Menstrual cycle typically takes about two weeks, with 14 days considered normal. For an individual woman, the follicular phase often varies in length from cycle to cycle; by contrast, the length of her luteal phase will be fairly consistent from cycle to cycle. The loss of the corpus luteum is prevented by fertilization of the egg. The syncytiotrophoblast, which is the outer layer of the resulting embryo-containing structure (the blastocyst) and later also becomes the outer layer of the placenta, produces human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is very similar to LH and which preserves the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum can then