AMH Blood Test

If your AMH test reveals you have a low ovarian reserve - don’t panic. You still have options open to you:

• If you’re in a relationship and ready for children, we recommend you try to get pregnant as soon as possible.
• If you’re ready for children but aren’t in a relationship, we recommend looking into accessing donor sperm.
• If you’re not ready for children, you could consider freezing your eggs.
• If you’ve experienced premature menopause, we can talk you through alternate options including using donor eggs.

Low AMH levels can indicate your ovaries are producing fewer preantral follicles. Factors that can lead to you having a low AMH level include:

An autoimmune condition

Environmental factors

Having a high intake of biotin (Vitamin B7)

Smoking

Surgeries for ovarian cysts or endometriosis

Your age, as you get older, AHM levels naturally decline as the number of follicles in your ovaries decline

Your DNA

It’s important to note that low AMH levels don’t necessarily mean you’re infertile or unable to conceive by IVF treatment or naturally. Get more information about the egg timer test and what affects AHM levels here.

Unfortunately, there’s no proven way to increase your AMH levels. The best thing to do would be to either start a family or freeze your eggs sooner rather than later. Freezing eggs is the only way to stop them from ageing.

While having a high AMH level sounds like a good thing, if your levels are higher than normal for your age group, this could indicate a condition known as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). To learn more about PCOS follow this link.

This is a difficult question to answer, as AMH levels vary widely, even amongst fertile women. The graph below shows the average AMH level by age, though it is important to note that low AMH is not necessarily indicative of poor fertility. It needs to be considered in the context of other test results and family planning.

Yes. AMH levels decline with age, as is visible in graph below. But they may also fluctuate from month to month, or even within the month. The higher your AMH level, the bigger the fluctuations may be. Because AMH levels are higher in young people, young people tend to experience greater fluctuations.

If you are using the Oral Contraceptive Pill, your natural ovarian function is being supressed, so an AMH blood test will often render a lower result than usual. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the Pill negatively impacts fertility, and your AMH levels should return to normal once you stop taking the Pill.

At Monash IVF, we believe knowledge is power. The AMH test provides valuable information about your ovarian reserve, allowing you to take charge of your fertility sooner rather than later.

The truth is, we can delay starting a family for all kinds of reasons - but there’s no question that fertility declines with age. Once your ovaries run out of eggs, the body can’t produce more. And unfortunately, your last remaining eggs may not be of great quality.

The AMH test grants you the knowledge to plan for the future.