Just a few weeks ago we ran a terrific post about the growing number of Australian women (and men!) who are actively and happily choosing to be child-free. But on the flip-side, thousands of women are dealing with unwanted childlessness — battling infertility, on the IVF superhighway or just panicking about not meeting the right partner in time. And that’s what it’s all about. A Fertility Test 101 — a guide to what they are and what they can tell you written by OBGYN Dr Brad Robinson:
As a woman you are born with a finite number of eggs – around one to two million. By the time you reach puberty this reserve has already declined to a paltry 200,000. During your reproductive years this number continues to fall, and after the age of 35 it falls at an accelerated rate. By the time you hit menopause, which occurs on average at the age of 51 for the average Australian women, there are less than 1,000 left. Actually, they’re less like eggs and more like ovarian dust. Obviously the more eggs there are left, the more likely a woman is, all things being equal, to conceive.
Unfortunately, many women have ovaries with a biological and reproductive age above their chronological age. In fact, as many as 10 percent of women in their early thirties are at risk of nearing a peri-menopausal state. This risk is heightened in women who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy, suffered from endometriosis or had ovarian surgery.
So the trick is trying to figure out how many eggs a woman has left. How do we do that? Well, as Dr Deane Hutton from the Curiosity Show used to say, I’m glad you asked!
The answer is the Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) blood test. As the name suggests, this test measures the amount of AMH in a woman’s blood stream. This hormone is produced by specific cells, called Granulosa cells, which surround each and every egg in a woman’s ovary. So obviously, the more eggs, the more granulosa cells. And the more granulosa cells, the more AMH produced. Capiche? Essentially, this information provides a quantitative guide in relation to an individual’s ovarian “age” and may assist women in making a decision about when to commence their attempts at falling pregnant.
What the AMH test can’t do
It’s important to remember that while this test can indicate how many eggs you have left, it can’t tell you about the QUALITY of those eggs. So as useful as the AMH test is for those seeking information about starting a family, it’s important to bear in mind that this test is but one component of what should be a complete and thorough fertility assessment.
For more information talk to your GP about booking in for an AMH test. After all, knowledge is power.
Have you had your fertility tested? Would you be interested to know how fertile you are and would the results of the tests change your life plans in any way?
We will be chatting about this tonight on Mamamia on Sky News tonight so don’t forget to check in…
Top Comments
My tale, is not so different from many of you but it was before fertility testing etc was available.
At the age of 22yrs. with a husband at University & both living on his grant, except when I managed to get some casual work. It was discovered I had cysts on both ovaries.
We did not question our Specialists, had the necessary operation, as far as I knew they had removed the cysts. At my check up 6 weeks later I was told I really should become pregnant as soon as possible, there was the possibility of more problems. woman s' problems were solved by pregnancy. When I questioned this, as we had no money, husband at University and this was a Teaching Hospital, I was surrounded by medical students at the time. This I thought in desperation would maybe get me some help? I was told, if I wanted children it was perhaps now or never? I probably would not fall pregnant anyway was the prognosis.
I went back to my new husband with the news, I was perhaps fortunate he was in his Honour s' year, he accepted the news calmly and seemingly quite happily. This did surprise me as he had had the intention of completing a PHD after his Honour s.
Well we started trying. accepting I would probably not fall pregnant for many months if at all. I started morning sickness before I realised my period was missing, the first month LOL. We were both thrilled, accepting the fact we would be struggling. We really did struggle, not always knowing where the next meal was going to come from.
We had our son, through a very difficult pregnancy, I suffered morning sickness through out most days all day, even to the day of his delivery.
I also suffered Toxemia and Pialtitis in the last weeks. Also a forceps delivery.
I went back for another baby, still short of money. Life never changes having a degree does not ensure you have money but he was employed. Thinking again it would be difficult to fall pregnant and advised we should wait 2 years to give my kidneys a chance to recover. There is exactly 2 years and 9 months between my first 2 children. We accepted marriage would be without money at the beginning then.
You moved into your new small house, happy to be there, no carpets on the floor, newspaper covering the windows at first. Each one of those situations was a tremendous milestone of accomplishment showing how well you were progressing. It was aepted we all started marriage that way and worked up.
I discovered much later when doctors started talking about your medical history, the cysts on my ovaries were Dermoid Cysts. There never would be more of those developing. I should have been triplets, these cysts quite often have a tooth or some hair in them. My Mother was relieved mightily when I told here. My ovaries, I much later discovered worked well considering one was atrophied, obviously not capable of producing many eggs.
What would my situation be these days if I had known all this much earlier? My husband thinks we would have put off having our children until we were more financially secure. He also wonders if he would have had children so readily because he was happy to just go on learning, he still learns today but in a much different way. He would have stayed at University forever??
He was and is very happy with our family life now but is very happy at times to take himself out of it and become very much immersed in his own projects. This takes him out of the family circle of our children and grandchildren, he completes all he wants without giving anything of himself at the time.
All our family admire him greatly without realising that I am alone all those times, having to find my own life at these times. I probably would have developed a different life, finding a career instead of being a stay at home mother.
I am 29 and my hubby and I have been trying for 15months for our second child. I asked my doc if I should be concerned, he sent me to a fertilty clinic just to be sure. Turns out my AMH is 4.5 when the average is 14.5. Anyway long story short it's never to early to be checked. If you really want a family def worth doing.
I had an amh result of 3 - then fell pregnant after one round of ovulation induction (doctor said it was a miracle and must have been my last egg). After my baby was born, I fell pregnant again (naturally) within two months of my cycle returning. So after hearing much doom and gloom, we have two beautiful healthy children. I credit natural
therapies for this - modern medicine is a wonderful thing, but seeking advice from alternative therapists is just as valid.
Your situation sounds very familiar. At 36 we were trying for baby #2 and I was sent for the fertility testing after 6 months. I was told it was game over with an AMH of 4 and FSH of 13.5. I had a baby via IVF and am also currently considered in the miracle category pregnant naturally with #3. Two and three will be under 18 months apart. My GP has seen many instances where women defy their dire AMH result.
Did you/have you fallen pregnant?