The age of a mother at menopause may foreshadow her daughter's fertility. Researchers examined the ovarian reserves of daughters by checking hormone levels and ovarian reserves. They used these numbers and compared them with the age of menopause in their mothers.

The team discovered these levels fell quicker in women whose mothers had menopause before the age of forty-five compared to women's whose mothers had it later in life.

Study authors say this is the first study to suggest ovarian reserves are influenced by hereditary factors; however they urge further long-term follow-up studies to confirm their results.

Findings appear in the journal "human reproduction."