The 90 days that decide whether IVF works.
Everyone talks about IVF like it's a reset button.
It isn't. It's a magnifier.
IVF doesn't create a healthy embryo out of nothing. It takes what your body is currently capable of and scales it up. Good conditions get amplified. So do the ones nobody checked for.
Egg quality is largely determined in the 90 days before retrieval, not on the day itself. Whatever's happening in the body during that window — inflammation, nutrient status, thyroid function, blood sugar regulation — is what gets retrieved. That's true whether or not anyone's looked at it.
So what does preparation actually mean in those 90 days? In practice, it's closing the gaps standard testing leaves before a cycle starts, not after one fails:
- Thyroid function properly assessed — not just TSH, but TPO antibodies too. TSH can sit in range while antibodies are raised, and that gets missed on standard panels.
- Homocysteine checked — linked to endothelial function and implantation, and not routinely tested.
- Fasting insulin and HOMA-IR — insulin resistance can be present with completely normal blood sugar, and it affects egg quality.
- Ferritin optimised, not just "in range" — the functional optimum is above 70 μg/L, well above where most labs flag a deficiency.
- Progesterone timing checked properly — a day 21 result means nothing if ovulation didn't happen on day 14.
- Targeted nutrient support — active forms of B vitamins, bioavailable minerals, and antioxidant support matched to what's actually been found low, not a generic prenatal.
None of this is routine before a cycle. It's assumed to be fine because nothing has flagged it as not fine.
That's part of why live birth rates for women over 35 sit around 20-25% per cycle. Not because IVF doesn't work — because the body going into it often hasn't been prepared for what's being asked of it.
I worked with a client who'd had two unsuccessful transfers before anyone looked at the full picture. Her diagnosis was managed, her medication was right, on paper. What was missing wasn't more testing. It was someone looking at everything already known about her, her symptoms, her history, her results, and asking what they were actually pointing to.
Her symptoms told a different story to the one she was being medicated for. We asked her consultant to review her medication based on what those symptoms were actually showing. We prepped her with the exact questions to take into that conversation. And we tweaked her supplement plan to support the challenges we now knew were the real ones.
This isn't anti-IVF. It's pro-preparation. There's a difference.
If you're heading into a cycle, or you've had one that didn't work and nobody's explained why, that's exactly what a strategy call is for.
Book your strategy call today.
Speak soon,
