What is it used for?
AMH tests are mostly used in conjunction with other tests to make treatment recommendations for female infertility (inability to conceive). AMH testing during infertility therapy can:
- Check how many eggs you have left in your ovaries: This is referred to as your “ovarian reserve.” It’s natural for your ovarian reserve to decline as you become older. An AMH test can tell you how big your ovarian reserve is, but it can’t tell you how healthy your eggs are or if you’ll be able to conceive.
- Predict how well you may respond to fertility medicine: Each month, your ovaries prepare one egg for fertilisation. If you use in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to have a baby, your doctor will prescribe fertility medication to cause your ovaries to produce a large number of eggs at the same time.
In females, AMH testing may also be used to:
- Find out if you’re getting close to menopause or have already begun menopause: As you approach menopause, your egg production decreases and your AMH levels decrease. AMH levels can be used to screen for premature menopause (before the age of 40) and early menopause (before the age of 45).
- Help diagnose and monitor problems with the ovaries that cause high AMH levels: PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) is a hormonal disease that can lead to infertility. Some kinds of ovarian cancer
For babies and children, an AMH test may be used:
- To check for healthy testicles in a male baby or child that may have undescended testicles: This is a syndrome in which the testicles do not travel from the abdomen, where they develop prior to birth, to their correct location in the scrotum. AMH is produced by healthy testicles in a male newborn.
- To learn more about a baby born with genitals that aren’t clearly male or female: This is referred to as “atypical genitalia.” It was previously known as “ambiguous genitalia” or “intersex.” Atypical genitalia can have a variety of causes.