How will I know whether I have a decent chance of success when pursuing IVF ?

When a clinic advertises that they have a  40-50% success rate per IVF cycle, it doesn’t mean this applies for every woman who undergoes IVF in that particular clinic. Even though it is hard to predict whether a woman will conceive in a particular IVF cycle or not, it is possible to calculate her chances of success , using certain parameters. The chance of achieving success depends on:

• Age of the woman – younger you are greater are your chance of success !
• Your ovarian reserve- If you have decent number of usable eggs left in your ovary, you are more likely to find success. Your ovarian reserve depends mostly on your age , but there are women who suffer from poor ovarian reserve at a young age as well .  How do you test your reserve ?
1. Anti-müllerian hormone levels (AMH) in blood, measured on any day of your menstrual cycle. AMH is produced by the antral follicles which are present in your ovary.
2. FSH and e2 levels in blood, measured on day 3 of your menstrual cycle
3. Antral Follicle Count (AFC) –  scanning your ovaries using a vaginal ultrasound probe on day 1-5 of your menstrual cycle will allow your doctor to count the follicles which are between 2-7 mm is size. These follicles are called as antral follicles. The higher your antral follicle count, the better your ovarian reserve, because these are follicles which will grow when you are superovulated.

•      A healthy uterus which is able to develop good endometrial lining  !