What's considered low ovarian reserve?

[Mj1986]

Hello - I was wondering if anyone a help. I am about to have my first IVF consultation (I have endometriosis with a 3cm Endometriomas). The doctor has told me that I have a low ovarian reserve (my AMH was 4.5 and AFC was 8). .Is this correct as it seems like my AMH is in the normal range? I'm 33.

[HopeTTC18]

Hi,

Sorry to hear your test results. Anything lower than 5.4 p/mol AMH is considered as diminished ovarian reserve and you would be unlikely to respond to standard IVF treatment.

However it’s not all bad news. You are just below the threshold, there’s a good chance that you can raise your AMH with supplements such as DHEA and ubiquinol.

I doubled my AMH after just a couple of months on DHEA.

You also have a reasonable AFC so that is also promising.

Some clinics offer natural IVF for low AMH and that may be something that would work for you since you have a good follicle count.

Ultimately I jumped straight to donor eggs due to my age (37)

My clinic would not offer me standard IVF as my AMH was 1.8 (doubled to 3.6) on DHEA but due to only having 1 ovary my AFC is usually around 4.

My clinic offered me IUI but the success rates are awful and I felt it would be a waste of money for me.

I know there are clinics that do natural IVF for low AMH and they just take the 1 egg you produce naturally each month and attempt to fertilise it with IVF. I didn’t know about that at the time and it may have been something I would have done to give my own eggs a chance but I’m now down the donor route and it’s more important to me to have a good chance of a baby soon as I’m getting older than worry about whether the child is genetically mine.

I wish you the best of luck on your journey

[Prayingforafamily in reply to HopeTTC18]

I have a AMH of 6 but I am 40, on my first ever scan I had just 1 follicle and I was heartbroken. I started DHEA Co-enzyme, royal jelly and had a go of ivf with my own eggs. On my first cycle I actually had 14 follicles with 10 eggs collected 8 mature and second cycle which I just completed I had 16 follicles, 12 eggs collected, 8 mature, my consultant was amazed after my original results. I have 4 high quality blasts waiting to be transferred ( I have issues with my lining) but just wanted to give you a little hope... that’s the only thing with ivf no one actually knows how you will respond ... unfortunately it’s costly and emotive process.. wishing you all the best x