Anti-Mullerian Hormone

Anti-mullerian hormone is a protein and is a member of the transforming growth factor family. It is involved in the regulation of follicular growth and development. AMH seems to give insight as to the decline of the reproductive age, and could prove useful to predict menopause in women.

It has been suggested that this could help younger women find out whether or not they will receive menopause earlier or later in life, also offering a window of how long they have to get pregnant.

When AMH levels fall below a specific level the chances of even IVF being successful are slim. This will allow specialist to compare AMH levels to other healthy women and determine what average healthy levels are.

This test could also benefit by predicting poor ovarian response and more easily offer a prognosis of IVF, this test could also show good candidates for surrogate mothers, for those suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Having this test opens doors before and during IVF. It allows doctors to inform patients of their likeliness for success, not only saving them extra heartache in the end and relieving the financial burden associated with IVF. This test will also allow doctors to modify treatments in order to improve the chances of success.

There is hope that in time tests will be developed to predict how long a woman is going to be fertile for.