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Module 24

Looking after egg and sperm quality

What you can do in the months before conception or IVF, what the evidence supports, how an embryologist sees supplements, and the parts of fertility that are nobody's fault.

  • 4lessons
  • 18 minreading
  • 6quiz questions
Start the module Take the quiz

The lessons and the quiz in this module are part of the Fertility with Kara Package. Module 1 is free to read.

Your way through Module 24

  1. Lesson 24.1 · 4 min The three-month window Why the months before conception or IVF matter for both eggs and sperm, and how much that window can change.
  2. Lesson 24.2 · 5 min Smoking, alcohol, weight, caffeine and heat What the evidence supports about everyday habits and fertility, for women and for men, without alarm and without blame.
  3. Lesson 24.3 · 5 min Folic acid and supplements, honestly Why folic acid matters before pregnancy, what trials show for other supplements, and how an embryologist sees them in the lab.
  4. Lesson 24.4 · 4 min Environment, wellbeing and what you cannot change A calm look at chemicals and everyday exposures, why looking after your emotional health matters, and the parts of fertility that are nobody's fault.
  5. Quiz6 questions · 5 to passNot taken BadgeModule 24Earned with the quiz

Learning aims

By the end of this module you will be able to:

  • Explain the roughly three-month window in which eggs finish growing and sperm are made, and how much it can change.
  • Describe what the evidence supports about smoking, alcohol, caffeine, weight and heat, for both partners.
  • Explain why folic acid is taken before pregnancy, including South Africa's 5 mg guidance.
  • Compare what supplement trials show with Kara's experience of embryo quality in the lab.
  • Recognise environmental worries that are larger online than in the evidence.
  • Describe why emotional support matters, and why age, genes and chance are nobody's fault.

The module in brief

The module in brief
  • Sperm take about two to three months to make and mature, and the final growth of an egg's follicle takes about three months, so changes made now take time to show.
  • The three-month window can improve the conditions eggs grow in, but it cannot change an egg's age.
  • Stopping smoking is a clear step for both partners; vaping is not a proven safe swap.
  • While trying, the safest approach is no alcohol; moderate caffeine does not appear to reduce fertility, but keep it modest.
  • South African guidance is folic acid 5 mg daily from at least a month before trying until 12 weeks of pregnancy; many other countries advise 0.4 mg.
  • Some supplements improve egg, sperm or embryo measures, and Kara has seen better embryo quality in her lab, which is one laboratory’s experience, not a trial; trials have not yet consistently shown more babies.
  • Stress has not been shown to be a major cause of treatment failing; emotional support is worth having for its own sake.
  • Age, genes and chance shape fertility too, and they are nobody's fault.
A note from Kara

Thank you for choosing to learn with me

I know you had many places to look for answers, and you chose this course. Thank you. It means a lot to me that you trust me with something this close to your heart.

Every lesson here is something I wish every couple could hear before they sit down with their clinic: how a life begins, what happens in the lab, and what the words on your report mean. Take it slowly. Short lessons, one at a time, are the way the science sinks in.

If a lesson raises a question about your own body or your own embryos, write it down and take it to your healthcare professional. That is exactly what this course is for.

Warmly, Kara

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