Why Are So Many Women Testing This Fertility Hormone?

People can’t stop talking about their AMH levels. But these “biological clock tests” may do more harm than good.

By Rosie Hopegood

Sometime during the pandemic, I noticed a trend among my 30-something friends: It seemed like everyone was suddenly talking about—and testing—their anti-müllerian hormone (AMH), sometimes referred to as an “egg timer” or a “biological clock” test. I’d never heard of this fertility hormone before, but it wasn’t long before my Instagram feed was flooded with ads for at-home versions or swanky concierge centers that seemed designed to attract millennial women drawn to glossy-leaved plants and midcentury modern furniture.
According to Aimee Eyvazzadeh, MD, an ob-gyn and reproductive endocrinologist who hosts the popular podcast The Egg Whisperer, AMH is a “hormone secreted by cells that surround our eggs, which declines as we get older and becomes undetectable once we’re in menopause. Unfortunately, for so many women, our AMH disappears before our longing for a child disappears.” Essentially, an AMH test can indicate your ovarian reserve, i.e. the number of eggs you have left in the bank—which, admittedly, sounds like a solid starting point for assessing your fertility. Plenty of direct-to-consumer sites are running with that notion, making bold claims about the test’s ability to predict how likely you are to conceive and help you plan when to start a family.

Medical experts beg to differ. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ official guidance clearly states that AMH testing “should not be ordered or used to counsel women who are not infertile about their reproductive status and future fertility potential.” Yikes. None of my friends who were getting tested were infertile, and many of them were basing ideas of their future fertility potential on the result.