When most full-grown, follicle cell-invested oocytes from Xenopus laevis are placed in an appropriate culture medium, they resume growth and remain physiologically healthy for at least 2-3 weeks. Rates of growth by full-grown oocytes in vitro generally approximate and can even exceed the most rapid growth rate achieved by vitellogenic oocytes in vivo. Resumption of oocyte growth can be correlated with the loss of investing follicle cells, which under normal conditions appear to interfere with vitellogenin and nutrient access to the oocyte. The final size reached by the oocyte within the ovary is thus not an intrinsic property of the oocyte but is extrinsically imposed by the somatic environment.