Female fertility and reproductive longevity are heavily influenced by the number and quality of available oocytes, which are stored in the ovary as primordial follicles. While our understanding of the regulation of oocyte number and quality is far from complete, growing evidence indicates a key role for the intrinsic apoptosis pathway, which is controlled by the relative levels and activities of the members of the B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) family. Both pro and anti-apoptotic members of the BCL-2 family have been shown to play important roles in controlling the number of primordial follicles initially established in the ovary at birth, as well as the number of primordial follicles maintained throughout reproductive life. This talk will cover the relationship between the intrinsic apoptosis pathway, primordial follicle number, female fertility and duration of the female fertile lifespan. The role of apoptosis as a quality control mechanism will also be discussed. In particular, recent work suggests that there are two key periods of quality control within the ovary involving the apoptotic elimination of oocytes: the first occurs during embryonic life prior to the establishment of the initial ovarian reserve of primordial follicles, and the second coincides with the onset of puberty and early adulthood. It is hypothesized that apoptosis is required to ensure that only the highest quality oocytes are available for ovulation and perpetuation of the next generation.