IVF in the UK looks different than it did a decade ago. Solo women now make up around 7% of all IVF patients, up from 3% in 2014, and the number of female same-sex couples having treatment has nearly tripled, from around 1,000 to 2,800 a year. It's one of the fastest growing groups walking into UK fertility clinics, often carrying the weight of that journey largely alone.

Just 16% of female same-sex couples get NHS funding for a first cycle, against 52% of opposite-sex couples. For most solo women and same-sex couples, that means paying privately from the start, often several thousand pounds a cycle, with no guarantee of a funded second try if the first doesn't work.

That's part of why the three months before treatment begins matter so much. Egg quality and general health are already being shaped in that window, long before anyone sets foot in a clinic, and for anyone self-funding, there's rarely a safety net if things don't go to plan first time round.

It's not just about eggs either. Sperm takes roughly three months to fully mature too,so for couples going through this together, or anyone using a partner's sperm alongside their own treatment, that same preparation window matters on both sides.

Proceive, the pre-conception nutrition brand founded in 2017, builds its whole range around that three month window. Women and Men cover everyday preconception support, with 28 and 26 active nutrients respectively, including L-Methylfolate, CoQ10, B vitamins and amino acids at clinically relevant levels. Max Women and Max Men step things up for anyone over 35, trying for over a year, or already going through fertility treatment, with 33 nutrients each, double the CoQ10 at 70mg, extra amino acids, and higher vitamin D3 and C. The idea throughout is to keep it simple, one supplement, once a day, rather than a long list of lifestyle changes to track and remember, which can end up adding more stress than it solves.

Omega Conception sits alongside both. Omega-3s (EPA and DHA) are a structural part of both egg and sperm cell membranes and help regulate the hormones involved in ovulation, which is why quality matters months before conception, not just after it. Most people only think of omega 3 as the fish oil you take once pregnant, for a baby's brain and eye development, but by the time a test turns positive, that three month window has already passed.

Fertility dietitian Jess Willow is happy to talk through why preparation matters and what she'd recommend in the three months before a private cycle begins, for men and women both.

With World IVF Day on the 25th July, I'd love to know if there's anything you're working on to help mark it or raise awareness? Please do let me know how I can help at all or if you are looking for any case studies.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

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