Beforeyou decide whether or not to go through fertility treatmentslike egg freezing, your fertility doctorwill request fertility tests. One of those fertility tests is called yourAntral Follicle Count (AFC). The Antral Follicle Count is considered as thegold standard for fertility level evaluation for a woman.

The Antral Follicle Count test is done with atransvaginal ultrasound scan that measures a woman’s ovarian reserve or herremaining egg supply. The ovarian reserve reflects her fertility potential.Ovaries in females are having a lifetime supply of eggs. When a girl reachespuberty, her eggs are released every month; by the time a woman reachesmenopause, her egg supply (and potential fertility) is exhausted.

An Antral (resting) follicle may be a small,fluid-filled sac that contains an immature egg. The Antral follicles can beseen, measured and counted on Cycle Days 2 or 3 by using ultrasound. The numberof Antral follicles varies every month.

The woman’s chances for pregnancy depends on theAntral Follicle Count, the woman’s age and Day 3 hormone levels. They are theindicators for estimating ovarian reserve. In other words, the Antral folliclesare an honest predictor of the amount of mature (dominant) follicles that maybecome available in a woman’s ovaries when stimulated by medications, leadingup to successful IVF.

IVF success rates depend on the number of eggsretrieved and their quality. When a good number of Antral follicles (eight ormore) are visible on the ultrasound, fertility specialists expect to retrieve agood number of eggs. The pregnancy rates are higher than average when the AFCis on the higher side. If very few Antral follicles are seen, the IVF cycle mayget cancelled to try for better results the following month. The other optionthat clinicians may take is to go for embryo pooling, where multiplestimulation + egg retrieval cycles are done and all retrieved eggs arefertilized and frozen as embryos. Even if the yield in one cycle is low,cumulative yield will be good enough to get a higher success rate.

Here is a quick rundown of what your AFC canhelp indicate:

• What percentage of eggs are remaining in yourovaries

• The number of mature eggs that may beretrieved from a IVF stimulation cycle

• The probabilities of 1 stimulation cycleleading to a healthy baby within the future

• The dosage of stimulation medication a doctorwill prescribe to facilitate the best result

• The time remaining before the fertilitysituation becomes grim for you

Contact GarbhaGudi IVF Centrefor more information on the Antral Follicle Count and fertility testing.