New Fertility Test Counts Number of Eggs in Ovaries - Plan Ahead Test Triple Hormone Test

January 26th 2006

Plan Ahead Tests

A new test is being made available to help determine how late in life a woman can conceive. The test works by measuring the number of eggs in a woman's ovaries. The British firm Lifestyle Choices has launched the world’s first publicly available triple-hormone fertility ovarian reserve test kit. The test is called Plan Ahead.

Many professional women worry that if they excel in their career now, they will not be able to have children later on. Some women may give up the career in order to start a family earlier. Wouldn’t be nice to know if you can wait to have children?

Developed at the University Of Sheffield, England, the test works by taking a blood sample during a women’s menstrual cycle. The test will measure two ovarian hormones, Inhibin B and AMH, and a third pituitary hormone FSH. According to the company the test is accurate for up to two years ahead.

The Plan Ahead test will assess the number of eggs in the woman’s ovaries and compare that to levels expected for women in the same age group. The other fertility tests currently available use urine samples to measure FSH levels only. This type of test gives a snapshot of a woman’s current fertility and does not indicate whether it is declining or not.

Women are born with about 2 million eggs, but 90% are lost by puberty. By the age of 20 women will typically have 50,000 eggs left, but by 40 they may only have 10,000 eggs left.

The Plan Ahead test sells for about $320. Currently the test is available through mail order only, but the company hopes to have it available over-the-counter (OTC) soon. Right now the samples need to be mailed to a laboratory in Oxford, England. If the test is made available in the US, the company should set up a laboratory in the states to process the samples.

Lifestyle Choices, 50 percent owned by Biofusion Plc