Wanting to know more about your reproductive health? You might want to think about a fertility MOT.
A fertility MOT is a comprehensive assessment of your reproductive health. Depending on the clinic, fertility MOTs usually look at egg quantity, health of the uterus and ovaries, and sperm health.
Going through with a fertility MOT can be especially helpful if you’re considering IVF, as it can inform how you might respond to treatment, and which options are most suitable.
Here we’ll explore what might be tested as part of a fertility MOT.
In this article:
AMH (Anti-Müllerian Hormone) is produced in your ovaries and can tell you how many eggs you have. A higher AMH level, suggests you’ll have more eggs.
The typical ranges of AMH level by age are:
Testing your AMH levels is a key part of your fertility MOT can be helpful preparation for IVF, as they can be used to predict the dosage of medication you may need to stimulate egg production.
Antral follicle counts are performed via transvaginal ultrasound, and help you understand your fertility in relation to your age.
It’s normal for your antral follicle count to decrease with age, but a count of 3 to 6 is generally considered low. Here are the average antral follicle counts by age:
If you’re going through IVF or other fertility treatment, your doctor may keep an eye on the development of your antral follicles by counting and measuring them.
BMI (Body Mass Index) is a way of measuring if you’re a healthy weight for your height.
If your BMI is too low or too high, it can take longer for you to conceive or increase the risk of complications during pregnancy.
It should be noted, however, that BMI cannot tell the difference between muscle and fat. This means that if you have a lot of muscle, you may be classed as overweight or obese despite having low body fat.
Your blood pressure gives you an idea of how hard your heart is working. It’s measured using 2 numbers, systolic pressure (higher number) and diastolic pressure (lower number).
A healthy blood pressure is generally between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg with over 140/90mmHg considered too high.
It’s valuable to understand your blood pressure during your fertility MOT, as high blood pressure can strain vital organs, increasing your vulnerability to serious health conditions.
Checking sperm health is an important part of any fertility MOT, as it takes the body around 3 months to create new sperm.
The health of sperm is determined by 3 things: sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm morphology. To test sperm health, you’ll need to have a semen analysis, either at a fertility clinic or using a home-testing kit.
A normal semen analysis result shows a sperm count of at least 15 million sperm per mL, with at least 1 in 3 sperm showing forward movement.
So, ready to have a go at a fertility MOT?
First, have a chat with your doctor. They’ll be able to advise if a fertility MOT would suit you.
Then, check out our Fertility Testing Bundles, which offer a combination of both at-home and in-clinic tests.
