What is an Ovarian Assessment Report (OAR)?

An Ovarian Assessment Report (OAR) paints a picture of what a woman’s fertility treatment results may look like and helps potential egg donors understand their fertility. The test is performed after a woman provides a simple blood sample at a local lab and checks multiple hormone levels. When compared against her age, these factors will provide an egg retrieval score which is a grading of potential ovulatory egg supply.

When is an OAR done?

The blood sample will be collected during a woman’s menstrual period, most typically on day 2, 3 or 4. The accuracy of the test is highest during the time of month when estrogen levels are at their lowest, which is typically within 96 hours of the full menstrual flow starting. In rare cases, estrogen levels may still be too elevated for the test to be accurate. If this happens, a woman may need to have the test completed a second time.

What do the results mean?

When the results come back, they are graded and assigned a category from below normal, normal, and above normal. These designations generally depend on the number of average eggs that can reasonably be retrieved during a given cycle.

• Below Normal: If an egg donor falls in this category, she is expected to have below normal egg production of her age. Women with a below normal OAR are not typically considered ideal egg donor candidates.
• Normal: Donors in this category have normal egg production for their age and are considered suitable candidates for egg donation.
• Above Normal: Will have above normal egg production . These donors are in highest demand.  Egg donation cycles are costly for intended parents, so the desire to work with a donor who will produce a sufficient number of eggs is understandable.

Most often, if a potential donor receives a “below normal” result, she will be excluded from progressing in the donor program at Growing Generations.

Certain forms of birth control can have adverse effects on an OAR. In rare cases, women may be asked to discontinue use of a particular birth control method and wait two complete menstrual cycles before doing another OAR.

Posted by Dr. Kim Bergman in Surrogacy Resources for Intended Parents on 12/03/19

Kim Bergman, PhD, a licensed psychologist of 26 years, has specialized in the area of gay and lesbian parenting, parenting by choice and third party assisted reproduction for over two decades. Dr. Bergman has created a comprehensive psychological screening, support and monitoring process for Intended Parents, Surrogates and Donors. She is the co-owner of Fertility Counseling Services and Growing Generations and is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American Psychological Association, the Los Angeles County Psychological Association, the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association, and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. She is on the national Emeritus board of the Family Equality Council. Dr. Bergman writes, teaches and speaks extensively on parenting by choice. Along with co-authors, she published “Gay Men Who Become Fathers via Surrogacy: The Transition to Parenthood” (Journal of GLBT Family Studies, April 2010). Dr. Bergman’s is the author of the upcoming book, Your Future Family: The Essential Guide to Assisted Reproduction (Conari Press 2019). Dr. Bergman created her own family using third party assisted reproduction and she lives with her wife of 35 years. Her two daughters are in college.