What does AMH Exactly Mean with Regards to your Fertility? Understanding AMH Test Results!

What Does AMH Exactly Mean in Regards to Your Fertility? Understanding AMH Test Results!

Before we know about what AMH is, let’s understand some basics of female fertility. Women are born with a reserved count of eggs (approx 1-2 million). Throughout their lifespan, starting from the first menstrual cycle, the body produces a group of follicles, each contains a small immature egg within it. And the follicles have the potential to respond to hormones eventually grow and ovulate.

Normally, a female will ovulate one egg per month, and the eggs gets dissolved if woman is not pregnant that month and the process repeats.

However, we know the fact the fertility declines as we age. Once a woman exhausts all her eggs, then there would be no chance of conceiving naturally. So it’s important for women to identify and guage their ovarian reserve if they plan to have a baby. let’s delve deep:

What is AMH?

AMH stand for Anti-Mullerian Hormone, it is a protein hormone produced by granulose cells within ovarian follicles. Understanding AMH levels help to assess a woman’s ovarian egg reserve and therefore fertility.

Low AMH levels indicate low ovarian reserve, while high AMH levels indicate a good future of fertility probability. AMH levels are comparatively lower in older women than younger ( particularly women over the age of 40) and higher in women with PCO (Polycystic Ovaries) or PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).

AMH Test- AMH test is a simple blood test done to analyze ovarian reserve and also diagnose problems like PCOD, early menopause, low or diminished ovarian reserve.

AMH is one of the most accurate tests that help in predicting a woman’s oocyte quantity and duration of fertility. AMH levels are generally stable and not get affects by the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, or any oral contraception. For this reason, AMH blood test could be drawn anytime.

For accurate assessment, sometimes, AMH blood tests are combined with an AFC (Antral Follicle Count) which is a number of small follicles within the both ovaries.

AMH values decline as women age as therefore their fertility. So the value of this AMH blood test is that a woman with low levels of AMH can choose to do something regarding of her fertility, if she desires a baby in the future.

How AMH Test Results can help to diagnose infertility?

Since Anti Mullerian Hormone is produced only in the ovarian follicles, the blood levels of this substance are used to measure the size of the pool where follicles grow in women.

Research shows that the size of the pool is heavily influenced by the size of the pool of remaining follicles.

By reading the AM blood levels, a fertility specialist can determine the size of the remaining ovarian reserve or egg supply.

If the AMH levels are less than normal or unpredictable then it means that you would be having less chances of getting pregnant.

What can AMH Measure? What Can’t?

It is a great marker to assess a woman’s current ovarian (egg) reserve via AMH blood test.

Additionally, it can help to set some realistic expectations like how a woman responds to medications or the number of eggs that may be retrieved and you can decide to proceed with IVF treatment (in extreme cases) for infertility or egg freezing.

It can’t predict that a woman can get conceived spontaneously in the near future. Many studies have demonstrated that there was no difference in women with normal AMH values versus women with low AMH values trying to get pregnant.

Just because that you have a normal AMH value now doesn’t mean it’ll stay the same for the future. Women will have a decline in AMH as they age thus fertility and how fast that decline happens is different for every woman which can’t be predicted.

When Do You Need an AMH test?

AMH blood test is helpful when:

You have been trying and unable to get pregnant for over 6 months and looking for some assurance of chances of conceiving.
You want to understand your current chances of a successful conception.
You are considering IVF or other fertility treatments then low AMH-levels may result in a poor response to IVF & treatments.

What are the Normal AMH Blood test results?

There are some inconsistencies to contemplate while interpreting the results of an AMH test. Below given equivalent ranges are considered to be normal and not yet clarified and agreed by most of the fertility experts that help in evaluating fertility potential.

AMH Blood Level	Interpretation
Over 3.0 ng/ml	High
Over 1.0 ng/ml	Normal
0.7 – 0.9 ng/ml	Low Normal Range
0.3 – 0.6 ng/ml	Low
Less than 0.3 ng/ml	Very Low

AMH levels & pregnancy chances with IVF

Women with higher levels of AMH will tend to have a good response to ovulation stimulation for IVF where more eggs can be retrieved. Contrarily, women with lower levels of AMH have a lower antral follicle count (AFC) thereby produce a low number of eggs.

AMH levels probably don’t reflect egg quality, having more eggs during the IVF egg retrieval provides an opportunity for a greater number of oocytes to fertilize & develop into embryos. And the quality of eggs plays a major role in the fertilization & development of embryos.

What are the Fertility Options for Women with Low AMH?

If a woman has diminished ovarian reserve (lower egg count), she still has the opportunity to have children using her own eggs and it depends on the relative level of eggs. If there are only some, we can retrieve them through IVF. A woman can also potentially preserve some of the eggs retrieved and could freeze them for future use.

If you think you have fertility issues, we are here to help you!

MotherToBe fertility center in Hyderabad is the pioneer of advanced fertility treatments, ultrasound techniques, and world-class IVF lab facilities. Our highly experienced fertility specialists provide you with an accurate assessment of your fertility. Book an Appointment here.