Sangeeta and Nitin got married in '2003, just before Sangeeta celebrated her thirty-first birthday. Almost a year went by, and she was still pretty easy-going about pregnancy. Sangeeta wanted it to just be something that would happen in its own time. At the end of that year she decided to see Gynecologist if anything was wrong. Gynecologist tested Sangeeta and suggested to consult an IVF specialist.

At the IVF clinic, the specialist explained the couple about the concept of Infertility. Infertility is an inability of a couple to become pregnant after one year of unprotected intercourse. Infertility rate among healthy married couples is as high as 20% in India and is one of the most severe crises that a person or couple may ever face, and presents a tremendous physical, emotional, and financial challenge.

The IVF Specialist explained Sangeeta & Nitin that the ability of a couple to become pregnant depends on several factors in both the male and female partners. Among all cases of infertility, about 40 percent are due to male factors, 40 percent are due to female factors. In about 20 percent of couples, the etiology for infertility cannot be traced to specific factors in either partner. The Gynecologist explained them Primary and Secondary Infertility and the causes of infertility also. Primary infertility is when a couple cannot conceive a baby and they have had no babies before. Secondary infertility is when a couple has already had a baby but is not able to conceive another one or carry the pregnancy to term. The most common cause includes hormonal imbalance, some chronic disease or infection, or chromosomal abnormalities in either or both the partners. Other causes include blocked or damaged Fallopian tubes, endometriosis and failure of ovulation, fibroids and hostile cervical mucus for women and failure of sperm production, low mobility abnormalities and antibodies for men.

But even after this expensive treatment, Sangeeta was unable to conceive and financially also it was raising questions in the couple's mind. At that point in time, the couple decided to have another opinion and they consulted the gynecologist. This time doctor took all the precautions and also asked for Inhibin B testing. The report came out was shocking which solved the entire problem. When inhibin B was done it was found that the ovarian reserve (Ovarian reserve may be defined as the youthfulness or health of the ovaries and the eggs) was low. The appropriate measures were taken and Sangeeta successfully conceived and delivered a healthy baby. Had the gynecologist prescribed the Inhibin B test in the very first visit, taking into consideration her age and other factors, the couple would not have suffered the mental, financial & emotional trauma they went through.

Various tests play a vital role when the couple visits the gynecologists for IVF. But still chances are 50% that the pregnancy will be successful.

In Europe and United States, Inhibin B is the mandatory test conducted for all the females going for IVF treatment. SRL Ranbaxy for the first time in India launches Inhibin B to detect the Ovarian Reserve.

Unlike sperm, which men create throughout their adult lives, women are born with a finite number of eggs. A female fetus contains approximately seven million eggs, but by the time that fetus has become a baby girl and is born, the number of eggs in her ovaries is down to between one and two million. By puberty, a normal girl will have lost all but 400,000 of those eggs, and she will continue, throughout her adult life, to lose approximately 1,000 eggs each month. It is estimated that during a woman's reproductive life, she will ovulate only about 450 eggs; the rest of that large reserve will die naturally on their own. Ovarian reserve may be defined as the youthfulness or health of the ovaries and the eggs (oocytes) they contain. Testing for diminished ovarian reserve gives the attending doctor the advantage of a more realistic estimate of the likelihood of fertility with treatment.

Ovarian reserve decreases with age and so the fertility. Female age is very important in consideration of probability for conception because it is very much related to egg quality. Low levels of Inhibin B are associated with impaired ovulation, decreased success with IVF, lower pregnancy rates and increased risk of miscarriage.

Speaking on the importance of Inhibin-B, Dr. Sonia Malik, renowned IVF specialist in Delhi quoted, "Inhibin B is going to be a major role play for the IVF specialists. Even after taking every precaution and after going through every diagnostic test, I was always missing the good and direct marker for ovarian reserve, which plays a very important role in the outcomes of in-vitro fertilization. Testing the right estimate of ovarian reserve was always a challenge for every age group women for various fertility related problems, and now with the availability of Inhibin B, I am sure is going to be of great help to every IVF specialist."

It's not only the age factor; the ovarian reserve can drop drastically in very young age, eg in poly-cystic ovarian disease, which is very common among young women in reproductive age group.

Apart from other tests, to know more about the underlying fertility problems, Inhibin B test is conducted for broader picture. The Inhibin B test can help to determine the quality and quantity of ovarian reserve. Ovarian reserve often plays a dominant role in determining whether or not a couple will conceive.

The Inhibin B test is a simple blood test that measures the amount of Inhibin B in blood. It is performed on Day 3 of menstrual cycle. The Day 3 Inhibin B Test is used in order predict ovarian reserve, including egg (ova) quality and eqq quantity. Because Inhibin B is produced directly by ovarian follicles, the amount of Inhibin B in blood directly correlates to the number of eggs that ovaries contain.

According to Dr Sanjeev K Chaudhry, CEO, SRL Ranbaxy, SRL Ranbaxy for the first time in India has launched Inhibin B test to determine Ovarian Reserve. The average age of women getting married and planning to start their family has considerably extended to more than 30 years. This very evident trend of delaying childbirth in race of achieving their career goals, or other lifestyle objectives has adverse consequences on the fertility levels of the couple. These age group women are today becoming a big customer for so called IVF clinics. Thus the Inhibin B test provides the physician with a more direct and appropriate measure of 'ovarian reserve'.