A lot of factors impact how fertile you are. Age, lifestyle, current health, and medical history all play a part in determining your ability to conceive. If you are looking to start a family, a few tests can give you an overview of your fertility and indicate any potential fertility issues.
AMH, or anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH), is one indicator we can look at to understand your fertility better. Suppose you’ve never heard of an AMH test before, and you’re wondering how your AMH levels impact your fertility, especially if you are considering fertility treatments. In that case, this is the article for you. Keep reading for what you need to know about AMH!
What is AMH?
Let’s start with the basics. AMH is a hormone produced by granulosa cells in ovarian follicles during a woman’s reproductive years. Follicles are small, fluid-filled sacs in the ovary that contain one immature egg each. AMH is first made in primary follicles that advance from the primordial follicle stage. At these stages, follicles are microscopic and can not be seen by ultrasound.
Your AMH level is often a good indicator of ovarian reserve, meaning how many eggs you have left.
A gradual increase in AMH levels occurs in females from birth until age 25, where maximum levels are observed. In adult women, AMH levels gradually decline as the primordial follicle pool declines with age, becoming undetectable at menopause.
Why is AMH Important?
AMH is important as an indicator of fertility and other female health-related conditions. For example, women with many small follicles, such as those with polycystic ovaries, have high AMH hormone values, and women that have few remaining follicles and those close to menopause have low anti-mullerian hormone levels.
Regarding fertility, blood levels of AMH have been used to attempt to measure the size of the number of growing follicles in women. Research shows that the size of the pool of growing follicles is heavily influenced by the size of the pool of remaining primordial follicles (microscopic follicles). Therefore, AMH blood levels are thought to reflect the size of the remaining egg supply, a.k.a. “ovarian reserve.”
Fertility Treatments and AMH
Fertility check-ups can be extremely useful when you’re planning an assisted fertility journey. In fact, the results will allow your fertility specialists to recommend the best treatments suited to your situation.
Testing your AMH levels can give you information about aspects of your fertility, such as if your ovaries might be aging too quickly. It can also reveal if you have a shorter window to get pregnant. It’s important to note that an AMH test doesn’t indicate a woman’s fertility potential. What the test actually tells us is the number of eggs that are left.
Further, An AMH test can also reveal how well you respond to fertility treatments to stimulate your ovaries to mature multiple eggs in preparation for in vitro fertilization (IVF).
What is a Good AMH Level for IVF?
In general, the more eggs you produce with IVF, the greater the chances of developing and producing a good number of embryos for transfer, ultimately meaning the higher your likelihood of conceiving. When your eggs get fertilized by the sperm, you get embryos. However, not every egg you produce needs to be successfully fertilized in IVF.
That being said, here are guidelines for AMH values and IVF success likelihood:
- AMH <0.5 ng/mL: This indicates a woman has fewer eggs than most. This result predicts difficulty in IVF getting more than three follicles to grow, which in turn reduces the chance for pregnancy with IVF.
- AMH <1.0 ng/mL: Suggests a limited egg supply, and a short window of opportunity to conceive
- AMH >1.0 ng/mL but <3.5 ng/mL: Suggests a good response to IVF stimulation
- AMH >3.5 ng/mL: Indicates an ample egg supply, and suggests caution should be exercised in order to avoid ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). OHSS is a condition that may occur in response to excess hormones, sometimes due to medications used while undergoing fertility treatments.
Can you get pregnant with low AMH levels?
Age greatly impacts your fertility, and you are born with all of the eggs you will ever have. Your egg count will decline over time, along with your AMH levels. An AMH blood test can give you an insight into your chances of getting pregnant naturally, and your AMH level will inform you how proactive you need to be when trying to conceive.
Ideally, an AMH blood test should be used alongside other tests and scans to give you the best indication of your fertility and chances of conceiving naturally.
Ultimately, AMH levels do not indicate the quality of eggs, sperm, or the ovaries. These levels only give an idea of how many eggs are in the ovary, so even if you have low AMH levels, that doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant.
Work with a Functional Naturopath and Fertility Practitioner
AMH levels naturally decrease with age, so try not to stress over your results when trying to conceive. Remember that this is just one indicator your fertility specialist will want to examine when helping you along your fertility journey.
If you’re interested in conceiving naturally, or are looking to start fertility treatments, and want to optimize your health and fertility for that goal, consider my group or one-on-one intensive fertility coacing programs. With a functional medicine approach to fertility, we optimize you from the inside out to help you achieve the family of your dreams.
