This is the question most middle aged women ask themselves. Some women are putting off motherhood to establish their career and meet the right partner. By the time they are ready, they could be well into their thirties and wondering “Do I even have any eggs left”
The ovary has about 2 million eggs during fetal life. From that point onwards, the number of eggs progressively decreases, till only about 300,000 eggs are left at the time of birth – a lifetime’s stock. During the fertile years fewer than 500 of these eggs will be released into the fallopian tubes – once in each menstrual cycle. Unlike the testis which is continually churning out billions of new sperm, the ovary never produces any new eggs. One of the existing eggs is matured for ovulation each month – and this limited supply runs out at the time of menopause.
A company in the U.K. had developed a test that can predict how many eggs you have left. The Plan Ahead™ test uses new measurements of the ovarian hormones, inhibin B and AMH, in combination with the older FSH test, which measures pituitary hormones. By combining these three tests, they have created the most accurate hormone tests available in the world today.
Analysis of these levels provides an estimate of the number of eggs in the ovaries (your ovarian reserve) and enables them to plot this against the expected egg number for your age.
This allows you to make more informed decisions about whether to try for a baby sooner rather than later, or perhaps to wait until your circumstances are more suitable.
The test, which is an intravenous blood test, is accurate for up to two years ahead so they recommend that a woman have a test every two years from the age of 30 onwards so she can continue to accurately measure her ovarian reserve.
The cost of the test is 180£ and more information is available at the companies website www.life-style-choices.com
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