A 40-year-old woman has a greater probability of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome than a 25-year-old woman because the 40-year-old woman is more likely to produce a flawed egg due to body aging, leading to chromosomal abnormalities. have eggs that suffer genetic mutations, leading to recessive illnesses. experience more exposure to harmful environmental influences, leading to faulty cell division. fail to produce eggs rapidly enough, leading to eggs that are not fully developed at the time of ovulation.