AMH is a hormone that is produced by your antral follicles. If you have more antral follicles, this means that you have a good ovarian reserve and the yield of eggs during your IVF cycle is likely to be high too.

When a girl is born, she already has the entire stock of eggs she is ever going to produce in her life. Unfortunately, there is no new egg production in the ovaries after birth, and we cannot coax the ovaries to produce new egg cells. During an IVF cycle, we just grow some of the eggs which are already present in your ovaries. Please do not believe the stem cell scam for increasing ovarian reserve - it is not sound science!

What are antral follicles?

Antral follicles are small follicles ( ranging in size from 2-7 mm) which are present in your ovaries and can be counted using a vaginal ultrasound scan during the earlier part of your menstrual cycle (day 2 -day 5). These are the follicles that develop in response to the FSH injections given during an IVF cycle. The number of antral follicles in your ovary gives a rough estimate of the number of eggs that will be retrieved from your ovaries in the IVF cycle. The actual egg yield will also depend on the dosage of FSH used to stimulate your ovaries - and how well your doctor monitors your superovulation!) The greater the number of antral follicles, the greater will be the egg yield.

A woman with a normal antral follicle count usually has a good ovarian reserve and is more likely to produce a decent amount of eggs which are of good quality. This is why her chances of success with IVF are high too. Women with poor ovarian reserve tend to respond poorly to ovarian stimulation drugs, and their egg yield can be Low. They have a poorer chance of success with IVF.

How can I increase my AMH levels?

AMH is a hormone that is produced by your antral follicles. If you have more antral follicles, this means that you have a good ovarian reserve and the yield of eggs during your IVF cycle is likely to be high too. Since antral follicles secrete AMH; the more the number of antral follicles, the higher will be your AMH levels. This is why AMH provides an indirect measure of your ovarian reserve. Many women tend to think that since their AMH level is low, their ovarian reserve is poor, but the truth is the other way around - it is because of the poor ovarian reserve that you have low AMH levels. The AMH is just a diagnostic marker of ovarian function. This is why just increasing your AMH will not increase your ovarian reserve. If increasing ovarian reserve was that easy, many biotech companies would have made a huge profit by manufacturing AMH !

When you check your AMH, do so in a reputed lab. If your AMH comes back low, please ask your doctor to repeat it again from another lab; and to also do an antral follicle count between day 2-day 5 of your cycle. If you have enough antral follicles and your AMH value is low, then this reading perhaps could be because of some lab error. But if you have a low AFC and your AMH is low too, then the diagnosis can be pretty clear - you have poor ovarian reserve!