What you want to know about ovarian reserve and ovarian reserve tests...

🌸 Today, I would like to talk to you about ovarian reserve and ovarian reserve tests. One of the most important parameters we focus on in couples who desire the continuation of reproductive function and wish to have children is ovarian reserve.

🌸 When girls are born, they come into the world with a certain pool of eggs in their ovaries. Until adolescence, this egg pool, despite the absence of any menstrual cycle in girls, physiologically decreases as a natural process. Upon reaching adolescence, one or two eggs are released every month in each menstrual cycle, and at the same time, despite not being observed in dozens of eggs, a physiological process called controlled cell death disposes of them from the body. Therefore, the process of rapid decrease in ovarian reserve continues with age. Especially in women after their thirties, and particularly after the age of 35, the rapid decline in ovarian reserve is a matter of great importance.

Hence, we usually inform our patients about the age of the prospective mother when they postpone their desire for children. After the age of thirty-five, the decrease in ovarian reserve is rapid, not only numerically but also negative changes in egg quality can be observed.

So, what are ovarian reserve tests? As gynecologists, we prefer to evaluate women's egg reserves, especially within the first 3-5 days of the menstrual cycle. During the gynecological examination and ultrasound performed within the menstrual cycle, precursor images carrying eggs, called antral follicles, provide us with information about ovarian reserve. In addition to a thorough medical history, occasionally, we also want to confirm ovarian reserve with some hormone tests. Among these tests, the most important is the antimüllerian hormone blood test, another test that our patients have been frequently aware of in recent years. Regardless of the menstrual day, the antimüllerian hormone test roughly provides information about ovarian reserve. Recent studies suggest that antimüllerian hormone counts may be influenced by various factors such as birth control pill use, smoking, and obesity, but generally, it reliably provides us with information about women's ovarian reserve independent of the menstrual cycle.

After obtaining information about ovarian reserve, we can roughly inform patients about factors related to fertility associated with ovarian reserve. However, there is no direct test that provides us with information about egg quality. Therefore, age seems to be the most important factor for us among the current parameters. When women are about to undergo any surgery related to the ovaries, such as surgery for ovarian cysts, masses, endometriosis, or endometriomas, they must gather information about ovarian reserve before ovarian surgery and plan their future accordingly. Wishing you all a good day.

Thanks... There is always hope.