Fertility

More than a century has passed since Walter Heape (1900) observed that in some mammals, females were only sexually receptive to males during a brief period before menstruation. He named this period estrus. In rats, cats, cattle, and sheep, female sexual activity is indeed rigidly controlled by ovarian hormones, with ovulation accompanied by striking behavioral changes. Over the past two decades, several ovarian reserve tests have been designed to determine oocyte reserve and quality and have been evaluated for their ability to predict the outcome of IVF in terms of oocyte yield and occurrence of pregnancy. Many of these tests have become part of the routine diagnostic procedure for infertility patients who undergo assisted reproductive techniques.