Did you know that you’re born with all the eggs you’ll ever have? It’s called an Ovarian reserve and on average, women are born with ~1 million ‘immature’ eggs inside their reserve. And an easy way we like to think about it is as a basket.

Over time, a handful of these eggs start getting chosen every month, in a race towards that one mature egg of the month (This starts when your menstrual cycles start). And while one egg matures every month, the rest are martyrs in the process.

But you see how this uses up your egg reserve right? Throughout menstrual cycles each month, this keeps repeating, leading to this sentence- “fertility declines with age”.

Basically, as the egg number declines, so does their quality, with increasing age. All that’s happening is that you have less options to choose from your basket, making conception and pregnancy more difficult with age.

But that isn’t where it ends — there’s actually a way to find out how many eggs you have, how healthy they all are, and when you should consider freezing them through a few simple tests.

Read on to find out!

Testing for Ovarian Reserve- AMH and AFC

1. Anti-Mullerian Hormone Test

The AMH test is basically a blood test! It measures the level of Anti-Mullerian Hormone in your body.

What’s that you ask? AMH is a hormone produced by immature egg follicles in your ovaries (remember the basket?). Because each egg makes a certain quantity of the hormone, the amount in your body is representative of how many eggs you have.

Low AMH levels could indicate that you have fewer available eggs and lower fertility. Another important use of the AMH test is to predict how you might respond to artificial Ovarian Stimulation during IVF. This can be valuable information if you’re exploring assisted fertility options and how successful it might be for you.

PS: If you’re wondering about this fertility test- Arva offers an AMH test that lets you know all this information with a simple blood test, done at the comfort of your home.

As important as the AMH test is, it doesn’t give us the full story of your basket of eggs. Of course, one aspect is quantity, but another very important factor in fertility is quantity.

How healthy are the remaining eggs?

For that, we’d have to couple AMH with its partner, the Antral Follicle Count.

2. Antral Follicle Count

Ultrasounds can be a powerful tool to test your fertility. They help doctors directly see what your ovaries look like, and the follicle sizes. Ultrasound also help analyze the morphology of your ovaries. The size and shape of your ovaries can tell a lot — if you have cysts, endometriosis, or any structural abnormalities that affect fertility long-term.

Ultrasounds can help you monitor Fertility treatments too. Over time, you can chart out the growth of follicles and optimise your chances of conception.

One such tool that uses ultrasound is the antral follicle count. The AFC test uses ultrasound to visualize the small, developing follicles that house each egg. Ultrasounds can measure the number of antral follicles you have, and thus how many eggs you might have.

Arva Answers: Is just one test enough?

Depending on the information you’re looking for, just an AMH test or an ultrasound might be enough. But if you want a complete and clear picture of your fertility story, we recommend doing them both together.

They give you a comprehensive understanding of your fertility, including the quantity and quality of your available eggs. Not to mention, can help doctors personalise your treatment plan more accurately. Many women might have low AMH levels, but still a healthy Antral Follicle count. That indicates that you might still have a higher potential to conceive, and may pave the way for personalized protocols that work best for you.

Your fertility is complicated and the factors we’ve discussed today are just the tip of the iceberg. Everything from stress, lack of movement, diet and pre-existing conditions can affect it in the long term which is why we recommend being proactive about your health.

Knowledge is power. That’s why at Arva, we’re helping you reclaim both.

TL;DR:

• Women, on average, are born with ~1 million ‘immature’ eggs inside their ovarian reserve.

• Over time, those eggs mature and decrease in quantity and quality

• There are 2 tests you can take to measure your fertility and ovarian reserve — AMH test and Ultrasound.

• The AMH test is a blood test that measures the level of Anti-Mullerian Hormone in your body. Low levels could indicate that you have fewer available eggs and lower fertility.

• But AMH tests only tell us about the quantity of eggs.

• On the other hand, the AFC test uses ultrasound to visualize the small, developing follicles that house each egg. Ultrasounds can measure the number of antral follicles you have, and thus how many eggs you might have.

• If you want a complete and clear picture of your fertility story, including the quantity and quality of your available eggs, we recommend doing both tests together.