Diminished ovarian reserve is a common cause of infertility. Your ovarian reserve is the remaining egg supply in your ovaries that can produce babies.
Incredibly, women are born with about 2 million eggs. But that is all they will ever have in their life. Both quantity and quality of eggs deteriorate with age, starting in the early 30’s and declining quickly at age 35-37.
How to assess ovarian reserve?
We can assess your ovarian reserve by testing your blood AMH levels or looking at the number of follicles on your ovaries by using ultrasound.
Ovarian reserve could be impacted by the women’s age, family history, previous pelvic surgery, toxic exposure, or other medical conditions. Some women experience earlier ovarian reserve decline which can result in premature ovarian insufficiency.
Due to the variability in loss of good quality eggs among women, it is important to assess ovarian reserve in all infertile couples, regardless of age.
What is an AMH test?
Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) is produced by follicles in the ovaries that contain your eggs.
Therefore, the level of AMH in your blood is a good indicator of your ovarian reserve. The more eggs a woman has, the higher the AMH levels. Low AMH level suggests that you might be going through an accelerated loss of ovarian reserve.
However, a high AMH level does not necessarily indicate good. If your AMH level is too high, it can indicate something like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
When can I get an AMH test?
You can get an AMH test any time, since values for AMH do not vary during a menstrual cycle.
What if I have low AMH?
Low AMH level does not mean that you cannot get pregnant. It could, however, mean a longer road to motherhood.
Our mild IVF and natural IVF approach has helped many women with low AMH get pregnant and result in live births. Talk to our doctor if you have low AMH levels or concerns about your ovarian reserve.
What else? How about follicle count?
We can also offer transvaginal ultrasound to count the number of follicles on your ovaries. Each follicle contains one egg that has the potential to develop in the future. If only a few follicles are visible, the corresponding egg numbers are low.
The number of follicles is dynamic, and the count varies in different menstrual cycles. Therefore, blood AMH is also recommended to assess your ovarian reserve.