Race between age & decreasing fertility in women
Are you in your mid thirtees, busy with job commitments, working overtime for the next promotion? Or are you still looking for Mr. Right, somebody who will be commited to you & your child.
Ladies, please pause for a moment! Your biological clock is ticking fast. The number & quality of female eggs starts dropping after the age of 35. You may be having regular monthly bleeding with normal flow, but still the fertilizing capacity of your eggs keeps going down. The chances of getting pregnant also keep reducing from the age of 35, drastically after 40 & there is a very remote possibility of becoming a mother naturally after 45 years of age.
There are few tests to assess the fertilizing capability of eggs, namely AFC & AMH. AFC (Antral Follicle Count) is an ultrasound study to count the number of resting follicles, which will eventually become eggs.
AMH (Anti Mullerian Hormone) is a blood test to again assess your chances of getting pregnant. The test results have to be interpreted carefully, considering multiple factors. The treatment options, even if it is IVF, become less with increasing age & you may have to take the help of donor eggs, if the time has run out.