{"id":1342,"date":"2020-01-27T16:16:37","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T16:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.theduff.co.uk\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2020-03-25T15:54:10","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T15:54:10","slug":"antral-follicle-count-ivf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theduff.co.uk\/antral-follicle-count-ivf\/","title":{"rendered":"Antral follicle count and IVF:<\/strong> what you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TWO OF THE FIRST IVF-RELATED EVENTS YOU'LL EXPERIENCE ARE<\/strong> the \u201cday 3 baseline scans\u201d and the \u201cantral follicle count\u201d. (Find out more about IVF prep and tests here<\/a>.) But what is <\/em>the antral follicle count, and what does it measure? All will be revealed after this quick warning: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quick warning: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019ll be a lot <\/em>of paperwork and a number of exhaustive (as well as exhausting<\/em>) appointments before you have any blood tests or scans. By the time you\u2019re in stirrups and about to get your antral follicle count assessed, there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll no longer care why. But it\u2019s important to understand the results, because they\u2019ll have implications for the rest of your treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are antral follicles?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re small egg-containing follicles<\/a> (about 2\u20139 mm in diameter) that can be seen, measured and counted with ultrasound. They\u2019re also referred to as \u201cresting\u201d follicles because they\u2019re the ones that are primed to grow, ready for ovulation, in this particular menstrual cycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You also have heaps and heaps of other, \u201cmicroscopic follicles\u201d. These lie quietly for months or even years at a time, and at some point they\u2019ll be part of the \u201cchosen few\u201d that become antral follicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the \u201cantral follicle count\u201d involve?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The antral follicle count is a transvaginal ultrasound examination (the first of many) that counts how many antral follicles you have in your ovaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll also have blood tests for FSH<\/a>, AMH<\/a> and oestradiol<\/a> levels, which attempt to discover the same thing. (You have a bunch of different tests rather than just one in case there\u2019s a misleading or dodgy result.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does it matter how many antral follicles there are? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The number of antral follicles visible on the ultrasound provides a good indicator of the total number of all follicles you have at your disposal. That is, if you have a decent number of antral follicles, it means you probably have a decent number of microscopic follicles too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So again\u2026 why does this matter? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It matters if you don\u2019t <\/em>have a decent number of antral follicles, because it suggests you don\u2019t have too many microscopic follicles either. That, in turn, means there\u2019s less chance that you\u2019ll conceive \u2013 because you have far fewer egg-containing follicles where the egg could potentially become fertilised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A low egg count is normally associated with age: the older you are, the fewer eggs you\u2019ll have<\/a>. What\u2019s more, you start to lose eggs at a much faster rate as you get older \u2013 it\u2019s not like you consistently lose the same number of eggs every month throughout your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Age also contributes to lower-quality<\/em> eggs \u2013 and low-quality eggs are far less likely to fertilise, implant or carry to term without miscarriage. If you\u2019re over the age of 35 and the antral follicle count shows that your egg supply is dwindling, it\u2019s also likely that many of those remaining eggs are lower quality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes it harder for you to conceive naturally, but it also makes it tougher for you to conceive via IVF. Why? Because with IVF, it\u2019s beneficial to produce as many follicles as possible per cycle. (See the article on the IVF process<\/a> for more on this.) If you don\u2019t have many follicles in the first place, it\u2019ll be harder for you to produce the metric ton of them that they like to get out of you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My antral follicle count is low. Should I get fertility treatment or try to conceive naturally? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your antral follicle count is low, the other tests mentioned earlier (AMH, oestradiol and FSH) will confirm that you\u2019re definitely lacking in the egg department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not everyone with a low egg supply needs fertility treatment \u2013 at least, not if they\u2019re under the age of 35. Why? Because, with a natural cycle, you only release one egg a month anyway: you don\u2019t have to magic up a bunch of eggs per cycle like you do with IVF. What\u2019s more, the quality of your eggs is likely to be good (egg quality also decreases with age<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said that, you\u2019re here, reading this paragraph \u2013 and you already know your antral follicle count. That suggests you\u2019ve probably already tried and struggled to conceive naturally, and you\u2019ve decided that fertility treatment is the way forward. The next section goes into more detail about why you have a good chance of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re over the age of 35, your egg supply matters a lot more \u2013 whether you\u2019re undergoing fertility treatment or not. That\u2019s because the quality of your eggs is also likely to be compromised, which means it\u2019s less likely that natural conception or fertility treatment will work as well for you. As a result, it probably will <\/em>be much harder to get pregnant. Here\u2019s more information about how egg quality and egg quantity matter when it comes to conception<\/a>. While fertility treatment can definitely still work (and plenty of people have had success with it), bear it mind that it will probably be harder to conceive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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