New Test Assesses Women's Fertility Factor, Warns If Eggs Are Running Out

Unlike men who produce sperms throughout their lives, women only have a limited number of eggs. To help women assess the number of eggs they are left with, a team of researchers at the Centre for Human Reproduction in New York has designed a new fertility test.

Using the test, a woman can easily identify whether she is at risk of running out of eggs prematurely. The test checks for three signs of infertility and could help provide an early warning to women who are at risk of infertility, reports The Telegraph.

Women who suffer from premature ovarian ageing (POA) have reduced number of eggs than normal at a given point in life. That is, eggs of women suffering from POA gets depleted at a faster pace and they reach menopause at an early stage. It is estimated that one in ten women in the world suffer from the condition.

The new test called “What's My Fertility” assesses genetic defects and changes in the hormonal levels to figure out whether the women are at the risk of childlessness due to the limited number of remaining eggs.

“This is the first risk screening program for POA that detects future risk of developing POA. Rather than diagnosing women when they already suffer from this condition, What’s My Fertility identifies women who are at risk, so they can prevent this condition from affecting their family plans,” said Dr Norbert Gleicher, in a statement.

The new fertility test involves an online questionnaire followed by a set of three blood tests. The written test report reveals whether the women are at an increased risk, has POA or no risk of POA at all.