Low Ovarian Reserve
your ovaries contain a certain number of eggs at any given time, which is called your ovarian reserve. Low ovarian reserve is a condition where there is a physiological decrease in the number of eggs, which results in an insufficient number to ensure a reasonable chance of pregnancy.
Tests used to determine if a woman is a ‘poor responder’:
- Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)
- Estradiol (E2)
- Inhibin B
- Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH)
- Antral follicle count (AFC)
These tests reveal how well you would respond to follicular stimulation. The base principle is to harvest as many eggs as possible.
If the tests reveal that you have extremely low reserves and would likely respond poorly to follicular stimulation, our specialists would invite you to consider alternate options such as egg donation.
Some women are prone to premature ovarian failure. Such women have an elevated FSH level on the third day of menstrual period. Their AMH value will also be quite lower than normal. What this means is that the ovary is producing less feedback signals to the pituitary , hence body responds by elevating the FSH levels in an effort to stimulate follicular growth in the ovaries.
So a good way to evaluate women with Poor ovarian reserve would be with a day 3 ultrasound to check the antral follicular count (AFC).