If you visit a fertility doctor for IVF treatment, the first thing they will test is your egg’s and your partner’s sperm health. The quality of the egg and sperm determines whether your IVF cycle will be a success or a failure.
One of the main factors doctors use to determine egg quality and reserve is AMH (Anti-Mulllerian Hormone). You need to have adequate AMH levels to have a high success rate in an IVF cycle.
But what do you do if you have low AMH levels? Can your IVF be successful with a low AMH? Read till the end to learn about the IVF success rate with low AMH levels.
How many eggs are retrieved in IVF with low AMH?
On average, your fertility doctor can collect over 10–15 eggs if you have normal AMH levels (1–3ng/ml). However, if you have a low AMH level (less than 1ng/ml), you can only produce 3–5 eggs during a single egg retrieval.
This number is not an accurate estimate, as the number of eggs that can be retrieved also depends on how low your AMH level is from the normal level. If it is only slightly lower, you can produce an acceptable number of eggs.
You should also remember that your AMH level is not the only factor determining your IVF success. Other factors, such as the quality of sperm, your health, and your fertility condition, also play a part in your IVF pregnancy.
How does low AMH affect Egg Retrieval?
The AMH is a glycoprotein hormone that is secreted by the follicles in your ovaries. They let the doctors know about egg development, how many egg follicles you have (ovarian reserve), and how many eggs can be retrieved for IVF treatments.
Since the hormone is produced by your follicles, a low AMH level indicates that there are a low number of follicles available to mature and release eggs. This can reduce the number of eggs that can be retrieved during egg retrieval and potentially decrease your chances of having a successful IVF pregnancy.
The eggs collected with low AMH levels might also have low egg quality. This can also affect your chances of having a healthy pregnancy.
Can IVF work with low AMH?
Yes, though it might be more difficult to achieve IVF success than women with normal AMH levels, you can achieve success even with low AMH levels.
In some cases, your Gynecologist might increase your dosage of fertility medications or recommend new medications to collect more eggs during retrieval.
Sometimes, if the number of eggs retrieved is low, but the quality of the eggs is good, there are chances of you having a successful pregnancy.
Your embryos will also undergo genetic testing like PGD and PGS to assess their quality and check for any abnormalities. This can also help IVF doctor choose the best embryo for transfer and prevent the chances of IVF failure.
So, don’t worry if you have low AMH levels. Your doctor will assess your condition and recommend the best option for you to achieve pregnancy.
If none of the above options work, you can also use donor eggs to achieve pregnancy. You can discuss it with your doctor and decide what course of treatment you will undergo.
What is the lowest level of AMH for successful IVF?
According to studies, you need to have an AMH level between 1.0–3.0mg/ml to be able to produce the required number of eggs for fertilization. An AMH lower than 1.0ng/ml can decrease the number of eggs collected during egg retrieval.
Remember that having very high AMH levels is also not good. An AMH level of more than 3.0ng/ml is a sign that you have several cysts in your ovaries, resulting in PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).
How often can you do IVF with low AMH?
The number of times you can undergo IVF with low AMH levels depends on your age, fertility, and overall health conditions. It also depends on how your ovaries react to fertility medications.
If your ovaries react adversely to the fertility medications, it might lead to a condition called OHSS (Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome). This can cause the ovaries to become swollen and painful.
Repeating fertility medications to collect more eggs may not be best in this condition. However, if you don’t experience any side effects, you can repeat the fertility medications and produce more eggs for fertilization.
For example, take that you produced 4 eggs during your first retrieval and another 4 eggs during your second retrieval. This makes a total of 8 eggs, which is a fairly good number to increase your chances of pregnancy.
You need to consult your fertility doctor and understand what to do to increase your chances of IVF success with low AMH levels.
What is the success rate of IVF with low AMH?
The success rate of an IVF treatment depends on various factors like age, quality of the embryo, fertility, overall health, etc. However, in general terms, the success rate of a woman with low AMH is about 10–15% lower than a woman who has normal AMH levels.
So, if a woman who is the same age, health, and fertility condition as you but with normal AMH levels has about 60% success rate, you will have about 45–50% success rate in your IVF cycle.
Conclusion
A low AMH level means you have a low ovarian reserve and you only have a few eggs for your IVF cycle. You need to discuss this with your fertility doctor and understand what you can do to improve your chances of a successful pregnancy.
Follow all the instructions your doctor gives and maintain a healthy lifestyle for a safe and healthy pregnancy.
FAQs
Yes, you can definitely ovulate even with a low AMH. Low AMH levels mean you have a low number of eggs remaining in your ovaries. It does not mean that you have no eggs for ovulation. So you will ovulate till your ovarian reserve depletes.
There are some healthy practices you can follow at home to improve your AMH levels. They are
- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle,
- Avoiding smoking & alcohol,
- Adding nutrient-rich foods to your diet,
- Consume multivitamins.
An AMH test is done to assess the following factors.
- To determine the number of eggs remaining in the ovaries
- To determine the dose of fertility medications
- To estimate the number of eggs that can be retrieved during egg retrieval.
