‘Egg timer' test of fertility marketed 'misleading', study finds

By Wendy Tuohy

Women could be tempted to get unnecessary fertility treatment or be lured into a false sense of security about how long they will be fertile by claims made on many IVF clinic websites about the so-called egg timer test.

The Anti-Mullerian hormone test is offered as a way for women not experiencing infertility to learn about “the number of fertile years they have left” and as “a snapshot early on so a decision can be made on when to start trying for a baby and when to access fertility treatment”, research by experts from several Australian universities found, but many of the marketing claims were not evidence-based.