Contraceptives & AMH

Today’s episode was inspired by an endocrinology conference that I attended last month, where an OB-GYN from UCSF noted that women who have been on hormonal contraceptives (aka birth control) for a long time may have suppressed follicular development, which can impact egg freezing or IVF cycles.

Shortly thereafter, this study came out.

Resources

Baird DD, Harmon QE, Upson K, et al. A Prospective, Ultrasound-Based Study to Evaluate Risk Factors for Uterine Fibroid Incidence and Growth: Methods and Results of Recruitment. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2015;24(11):907-915. doi:10.1089/jwh.2015.5277

Bernardi LA, Weiss MS, Waldo A, et al. Duration, recency, and type of hormonal contraceptive use and antimüllerian hormone levels [published online ahead of print, 2021 Mar 19]. Fertil Steril. 2021;S0015-0282(21)00126-6. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.02.007

Kotlyar AM, Seifer DB. Ethnicity/Race and Age-Specific Variations of Serum AMH in Women-A Review. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021;11:593216. Published 2021 Feb 9. doi:10.3389/fendo.2020.593216

Letourneau JM, Cakmak H, Quinn M, Sinha N, I Cedars M, Rosen MP. Long-term hormonal contraceptive use is associated with a reversible suppression of antral follicle count and a break from hormonal contraception may improve oocyte yield. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2017;34(9):1137-1144. doi:10.1007/s10815-017-0981-8

Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Testing and interpreting measures of ovarian reserve: a committee opinion. Fertil Steril. 2015;103(3):e9-e17. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2014.12.093

Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Testing and interpreting measures of ovarian reserve: a committee opinion. Fertil Steril. 2020;114(6):1151-1157. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2020.09.134