Most of your questions have been answered but I thought I would add my 2c. I conceived our daughter on 4th cycle (stillbirth was not related to clomid) and our son on 6th (and last) cycle. Pregnancy can be achieved on a first cycle but there is still only about a 25% chance of getting pregnant each cycle anyway (even if you don't need the assistance of drugs!!)

1) clomid is supposed to cause your ovaries to produce and release eggs correct? Clomid is an ovulation induction drug. It tricks the brain into thinking there are not enough hormones being produced to effectively ovulate so the pituitary gland increases the production - I think it is primarily progesterone which is the hormone measured on the day 21 test to see if you have ovulated or not. It is the reason why you get the hot flushes, hormonal stuff on it - mega PMS and feeling like you are experiencing menopause all in one

Assuming question number one is correct,:

2) Once you stop taking clomid, does your body stop producing eggs?No. Not if you were producing them before. I was producing eggs but I had a less than effective ovulation. My gynae said - you ovulate, just not well!! That is, my progesterone was a little low but I had all the signs of ovulation with CM etc.

3) Does clomid cause the body to produce only the egg(s) it will release at once, or will it cause the production of many eggs that are released over time much like a normal operating female reproductive system?I believe that most *normal* cycles more than one follicle starts to develop but only one (usually) matures and releases. Clomid assists in the maturation of the developing follicles. You, generally, don't have the issues of hyperstimulation like other injectable ovulation induction drugs but you do get some bloating / fullness and pelvic tenderness. You may get more follicles getting to the bigger size but generally you will still only get the release of the dominant follicle.

4) Since the body has now produced eggs, they are not degraded in quality correct? It depends - some people have poor egg quality and, to my knowledge, clomid cannot change the quality of the egg but the level of maturation and hormone levels to enable fertilisation and implantation. Also, how does the quality relate to an egg that is released in a womans 20's? Is the egg better than any eggs released in older age, but not as good as an egg naturally released in the 20's (does that make since?)?I don't think it changes the quality in that way. Just the hormones related to maturation, fertilisation and implantation. Progesterone is often implicated in early losses and this hormone level is generally improved with clomid.

5) Even if a woman is releasing eggs and shows no real problem with her fertility or ability to conceive (minus the occasional MC), is clomid a possible solution to maintaining high quality eggs in an effort to ward off the effects of age on naturally existing eggs?I don't believe so. If you ovulate effectively then clomid is of no benefit to improving the chance of pregnancy occurring.

6) Does clomid have an increased risk of causing multiple eggs to be created and released? If so, how significant an increase of giving birth to twins or more? Clomid increases the maturation of the developing follicles and can result in more than one egg being released at ovulation. Rates of multiple births (usually twins - however if you have a family history of identical twins with the splitting of the single egg your chances would increase again!!) is between 8-10%