Ovarian Reserve
Ovarian Reserve in Simply terms means fertility potential. It is a measure of “Quantity of Ovarian Follicles/ eggs” left in female Body ovary. Ovarian reserve refers to the reproductive potential left within a woman’s two ovaries based on number and quality of eggs.
However women with Diminished/ Poor Ovarian Reserve (DOR) often have a greater risk of miscarriage when conceiving via IVF with their own eggs due to poor egg quality. Poor egg quality is caused by diminished ovarian reserve and is very important and most common cause of infertility, especially in women over 35 yr and have not conceived within 6 months of trying. Egg quality is important because it determines embryo quality. Poor egg quality is closely associated with chromosomal abnormalities in embryos, also known as aneuploidy.
Risk Factor For decreased Ovarian Reserve :
- Advanced Reproductive age ( > 35 Yr)
- Family History of Early Menopause
- Smoking
- Previous Ovarian Surgery ( endometriosis / Ovarian cyst)
- Genetic condition e.g. Turner’s
- History of medical Conditions requiring chemotherapeutic drugs e.g. History of cancer / Gonadotoxic therapies.
How To Assess ovarian Reserve / Reproductive Potential :
There are several ways in which one can assess ovarian reserve .
- Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) can be measured on day 2 or 3 of a normal menstrual cycle.
- AMH ( Anti Millerian Hormones )
- Ovarian Reservecan be assessed by performing a transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) and counting the Antral Follicles (AFC) present.
How can women with poor ovarian reserve conceive?
If the first option – a natural pregnancy – doesn’t happen despite trying for 6 months or more, the next step is seeking infertility treatment. Usually, IUI (intrauterine insemination) or IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) are the next options. Doctors will be able to stimulate and retrieve the last few eggs for IVF or ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection).
Our success story after 18 years of infertility
One of our patients Mrs. Rama, a 38 years old female, had secondary infertility for last 18 years. She had hypothyroidism that was controlled but had very poor ovarian reserve at this age. She had the history of previous two failed IUI cycles and one failed IVF cycle at other Centre. In Baby Joy IVF & Fertility Centre, when Our Sr. IVF Doctor did the scan ( TVS ), she was advised to take the oocyte donor because at this age Egg quality and quantity had decreased. The patient got convinced to take the donor and our Centre provided the donor matching the intending parent’s profile. As she had infertility treatment failures from other clinics and had spent a lot on these treatments, she needed the Best IVF Cost in Delhi, which she was offered by Baby Joy IVF & Fertility Centre. She underwent the treatment and conceived in her first IVF cycle at our Centre and successfully delivered a healthy baby by Caesarean section.