Hormone tests, fertility and menopause

With the trend to older motherhood, many women will be interested in recent news of a hormone test that can predict menopause. But it's important to know that the test can't tell you how long you can wait to have children, as some reports have suggested.

Two research papers (here and here are based on hormone levels in more than 600 women from Michigan, who had tests every year for 14 years. The results provide a "map" showing how hormone levels changed over time, and how those changes related to when women stopped having menstrual periods.

The main finding was that levels of a hormone called AMH (anti-Mullerian hormone) dropped sharply, to barely-detectable levels, four to five years before women had their final period. Researchers think this drop is related to the women having few eggs left in their ovaries. So, by the time a hormone test shows you're within five years of menopause, you may have little chance of getting pregnant. That might be helpful information to have, but it's no use if you want to know how long you can wait before you try to get pregnant.

What you need to know. There's no test that tells you how long you'll be fertile. But hormone levels can be a useful guide if you're considering fertility treatment.

—Anna Sayburn, patient editor, BMJ Group

ConsumerReportsHealth.org has partnered with The BMJ Group to monitor the latest medical research and assess the evidence to help you decide which news you should use.

Learn more about women's health issues, including fertility problems and menopause. And take a look our self-help recommendations for common menopausal symptoms, and our new Best Buy Drugs report on cost-effective alternatives for menopause drugs.