Image credit: hadkhanong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net AMH (Anti-Müllerian Hormone) is a hormone secreted in the granulosa cells (satellite cells which surround eggs) and its robustness and stability throughout the cycle makes it the most important parameter in terms of predicting ovarian reserve. A simple blood test taken on any day of the cycle will give you this [...]
Image courtesy: jscreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Getting pregnant always looked like something that happens easily, so I've spent decades believing that (and doing everything possible to make it not happen). When I only think of all the sex I did not enjoy because I was subconsciously busy calculating my fertile days and obsessing about condoms not being [...]
Image courtesy: marin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net I will start this post by telling a little secret. In my counseling sessions, I sometimes insist on having video chats on Skype, for the reason that I like to see the women I'm talking to. Why do I need to see them? Because even when they're directly asked, women will not [...]
Photo courtesy: jesadaphorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net There are people in this world such as fertility specialists on CHR (Center for Human Reproduction in New York) who are true magicians in making women pregnant and who really understand the issues surrounding low ovarian reserve or bad egg quality in women over forty. So when they say that the [...]
My best friend is thirty-nine and is still postponing having a baby. We have discussed all kinds of fertility topics for years - from egg freezing, to low ovarian reserve, tracking ovulation etc., and still she would not even go to a doctor to find out about her AMH or FSH. “What if it's bad?” she says. “Then [...]
Image courtesy: hyena reality at FreeDigitalPhotos.net What is fertility testing? In reality, fertility of a women is a continuum and not something that categorizes well. A certain value from a blood test can cause feelings of panic by placing you in a particular category ("low responder"! "high FSH"! "diminished ovarian reserve"!) whereas in reality there is [...]
Image courtesy: jk1991at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Some months ago I was asked for the first time about using PQQ (Pyrroloquinoline quinone) to improve egg quality. I was not too surprised, as women often come to me long lists of supplements which they take in hope of improving egg quality and often my consulting work boils down to reducing [...]
Image courtesy: radnatt at FreeDigitalPhotos.net If I had to pick only five lifestyle interventions in terms of being simple to implement and bringing immediate and measurable benefits to women over 35 who are trying to get pregnant, these would be: 1. Stop smoking. Smokers are 30 percent less fertile than non-smokers and three times more likely [...]
