How are my eggs?

At our East of England clinics including Cambridge, Colchester, Norwich and Wickford, ovarian function and reserve tests, sometimes known as an ‘egg count’, involving blood tests and ultrasound imaging of your ovaries, tells us a lot about your fertility.

Women are born with a finite number of eggs that are stored in the ovaries. Over time, these are released until the stock runs out (the menopause). The quality of the egg also diminishes as stock levels decline.

In order to gain an accurate picture of your stock of eggs, we perform a number of blood tests and an ultrasound assessment of your ovaries.

The blood tests measure Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) – to provide guidance on natural conception, your potential egg count from fertility treatments, and how well your ovaries are likely to respond to different medication regimes – Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinising Hormone (LH), and Estradiol. Progesterone (P4) is also measured to assess whether the eggs are being released at the right time.

The ultrasound assessment tells you how many immature follicles – structures containing potential eggs – are visible in the ovary, giving an estimation of stock levels. While we are performing this test, we will also evaluate any problems or abnormalities in your uterus and its lining, as well as around your reproductive organs.

For more information about our female fertility tests, please contact our one of our East of England clinics, including those at Cambridge, Colchester, Norwich, and Wickford.