Antimullerian Hormone, or AMH Testing

As a part of a comprehensive fertility evaluation, your fertility doctor at Dallas - Fort Worth Fertility Associates will want as much information as possible about your ovarian reserve, or how many eggs remain in your ovaries.

What Is AMH?

Special granulosa cells create AMH in the ovarian follicles when oocytes (eggs) are so small they can’t be detected by ultrasound. Once the follicles mature to a certain size in their preparation for ovulation, AMH production stops. The AMH secreted by the follicles can be detected in a woman’s blood.

AMH Levels Suggest Ovarian Reserve

Fertility doctors have recently started to interpret AMH levels as an indirect test of how many eggs a woman still carries in her ovaries. Unlike other blood tests used for fertility, the AMH test can be performed on any day of a woman’s cycle.

Normal levels of AMH indicates that many follicles are active, which likely means there is a high ovarian reserve. Higher AMH levels can also be present among women with polycystic ovaries (PCOS).

Low levels of AMH could mean that there are a reduced amount of eggs available for ovulation, indicating a low ovarian reserve. As women age and get closer to menopause, their pool of available eggs becomes much smaller and, as a result, their blood AMH levels significantly decrease.

AMH Levels and Fertility Options

The AMH blood test is just one fertility test for ovarian reserve. Each test has its strengths and weaknesses, which is why fertility doctors often use several different tests as part of a comprehensive fertility evaluation.

AMH levels can tell fertility doctors about egg quantity, but research hasn’t yet shown a relationship between AMH levels and egg quality.

That said, because women with higher AMH blood levels have a higher reserve of eggs, they tend to respond better to the ovarian stimulation procedure used to retrieve eggs for fertility preservation, or in vitro fertilization (IVF). Retrieving more eggs, in general, leads to higher IVF success rates because there are more potential embryos for transfer.

Lower AMH levels don’t necessarily mean that IVF or egg freezing is not recommended. Your fertility doctor at Dallas-Fort Worth Fertility Associates will work with you to determine the best pregnancy plan based on all of your results, not just the AMH test.

Contact our fertility specialists to schedule an appointment to learn more about which fertility tests would be best for your situation. Our experienced Dallas - Fort Worth Fertility Associates team helps turn AMH test results into an actionable fertility plan.