The IVF Project

The IVF Project Improve your chance of conception with Clinical Exercise Physiology, Dietetics and Psychology- scientifically proven strategies that work! Dr Kitic

With the incredible benefits of exercise and eating well, and the desire to get your body baby ready for a healthy pregnancy, there has never been a better time to undertake the right exercise and nutrition program. With personal experience of multiple IVF cycles I understand how stressful and challenging this time can be. Improve your chance of conception (saving expensive cycles of treatment), build your resilience through the roller coaster of assisted reproductive treatments, and get yourself ready for growing a tiny human!

Most people optimising for fertility are missing this one piece. And it's been in the research for years. 🌊We talk about...
25/08/2026

Most people optimising for fertility are missing this one piece. And it's been in the research for years. 🌊

We talk about folate, CoQ10, vitamin D - but there's one nutrient that keeps showing up in the science on egg quality, s***m health, and pregnancy success that barely anyone is talking about.

Omega-3.

Not the kind in your chia seeds. The kind that literally builds the walls of your cells - and determines how well your reproductive system functions at every level.

Dr Cecilia Kitic, PhD is hosting a free live webinar this Tuesday to walk you through what the science actually shows - and what you can do about it starting now.

This one is for you whether you're just starting your fertility journey, in the middle of IVF, or supporting someone who is. 💙

🗓 Tuesday 25 August
🕖 7:00 PM AEST | 10:00 AM UK
📍 Free | Live on Zoom

Drop a 🐟 in the comments if you're coming, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

👉 Join here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7239379371

A new paper in the *Journal of Nutrition* exploring the **polyphenol–gut microbiota–exercise triad** has cited our resea...
23/08/2026

A new paper in the *Journal of Nutrition* exploring the **polyphenol–gut microbiota–exercise triad** has cited our research on exercise and gastrointestinal damage. 🔬

It’s a nice reminder of why I’ve always been interested in what happens when we stop looking at exercise, nutrition, the gut and reproductive health as separate systems.

At **The IVF Project**, this thinking underpins how we approach exercise prescription for both men and women preparing for conception or navigating fertility treatment.

Not simply *“Should I exercise?”* — but **what type, how much, how hard, and when?**

Exercise prescription should consider the individual, their training history, reproductive health, nutrition, energy availability, gut health and where they are in their fertility journey.

And nutrition is another important part of this picture.

Tomorrow, **25 August**, I’ll be presenting a webinar on **optimising omega-3 before conception** — looking at the science behind omega-3s, cellular health, egg and s***m health, and why measuring and optimising status before conception may matter.

Because when it comes to fertility, the foundations rarely work in isolation. 🧬

📅 Tuesday 25 August
⏰ 7:00 PM AEST | 10:00 AM UK
💻 LIVE via Zoom
🔗 JOIN HERE:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7239379371

20/08/2026

This is exactly the kind of research we need more of.

Dr Margie Davenport, PhD ✨ Pregnancy & Postpartum Health and her team are asking important questions about female athletes, exercise and assist reproduction.

An area where women have historically had far too little evidence given to them- and I strongly agree with one of the important messages from this work.

Women shouldn’t be unnecessarily frightened away from exercise during fertility treatment or egg preservation.

I wanted to add another layer to the conversation from my perspective as an exercise physiologist working in fertility.

The study included athletes undergoing egg freezing in IVF.

These can represent quite different reproductive populations. A woman undergoing IVF because of infertility may already avoid identified reproductive or medical factors affecting fertility and athlete freezing her eggs for fertility preservation may have never tried to conceive and may simply never have had reason to investigate her reproductive health that that’s why I think the period before ART begins deserves more attention.

The finding that the modified exercise load wasn’t associated with increased adverse events during ovarian stimulation is valuable but this doesn’t yet answer questions about egg quality, embryo development, implantation or live birth outcomes that become particularly important when we’re considering the ultimate success of IVF or the future use of frozen eggs.

An athlete can give us physiological clues worth investigating.

Menstrual cycle regularity, ovulation timing, luteal phase function, energy availability, ovarian reserve relative to age, oestrogen, vitamin D and nutrient status menstrual pain, endometriosis, PCOS.

None of these mean an athlete automatically needs to reduce her exercise. They give us information that can help determine whether the training load recovery or fuelling is appropriate or whether there may be an opportunity to modify something in the months leading up to an egg retrieval.

Egg collection carries a significant physical emotional and financial investment.
For those working with female athletes: Are we looking closely enough at reproductive physiology before athletes reach tre

21/07/2026

I never imagined my own fertility journey would change the direction of my career.

As both a researcher and a patient, I realised something I couldn’t ignore.

Fertility doesn’t happen in isolation.

It’s influenced by our metabolism, immune system, hormones, nutrition, and the trillions of microbes living within us.

That realisation led me to leave academia, write Create a Fertile Gut, and ultimately create The IVF Project.

Not because I believe there’s a single answer to fertility.

But because I believe everyone deserves to understand the biology behind it.

IVF has helped millions of families—and it remains one of the greatest advances in medicine.

My mission is to bridge the gap between emerging reproductive science and the people trying to build their families.

Because understanding your fertility is empowering. And everyone deserves access to that knowledge.

IVF can fertilise an egg. But it can’t change the months of biology that came before it.Preparing for IVF isn’t just abo...
18/07/2026

IVF can fertilise an egg. But it can’t change the months of biology that came before it.

Preparing for IVF isn’t just about medications and appointments. It’s about creating the best possible environment for egg development before your cycle begins.

One nutrient that has received significant research attention is myo-inositol.

While it’s well established in women with PMOS (PCOS), a recent international expert position statement concluded that myo-inositol should be considered as a pretreatment strategy before ovarian stimulation. The statement highlights evidence suggesting that, in both women with and without PCOS, myo-inositol supplementation may:

• Reduce gonadotrophin requirements during stimulation.
• Support oocyte and embryo quality.
• Improve fertilisation outcomes.
• Support clinical pregnancy rates.

At The IVF Project, we believe IVF preparation should be guided by evidence - not trends.

That means looking beyond the treatment cycle itself and considering the factors that influence reproductive health in the months leading up to IVF, including nutrition, metabolic health, sleep, movement and the gut microbiome.

There is no single nutrient or supplement that guarantees IVF success. But there are evidence-based strategies that may help optimise your health before treatment.

That’s the difference between hoping you’re doing everything you can... and preparing with purpose.

Save this post for when you’re planning your next IVF cycle, and share it with someone who is preparing for treatment.

10/07/2026

Your gut microbiome impacts fertility, conception & pregnancy progression.

🦠 A new study found that women who had a live birth after frozen embryo transfer had less bacterial fragments in their blood and more beneficial species living in the gut.

🚩 But those who didn’t conceive? They had higher levels of something called flagellin in their blood.

👀 You’ve probably seen bacteria with little tails swimming around — that tail is the flagellum, and flagellin is a piece of it.

💥 High levels of this flagellin fragment often mean increased intestinal permeability or mucus layer damage
➡️ fragments slip into your bloodstream ➡️ immune system gets fired up.

📊 Women who didn’t achieve a live birth had almost double the flagellin levels.

✨ Meanwhile, females with successful pregnancies had more of a beneficial species called B. pseudocatenulatum — a bacteria that can increase intestinal integrity.

👶 Want to boost your chance of pregnancy success? Learn how to grow the right gut microbes, improve the intestinal barrier & reduce inflammation to support pregnancy success.

Follow along for evidenced based strategies

19/06/2026

It takes two.


Li, F., Duan, X., Li, M. et al. S***m DNA fragmentation index affect pregnancy outcomes and offspring safety in assisted reproductive technology. Sci Rep 14, 356 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-45091-6

03/06/2026

IVF can help create embryos.

But it doesn’t improve the biology that created those embryos in the first place.

Emerging evidence suggests that controlled ovarian stimulation may alter the vaginal microbiome, increasing markers of dysbiosis and potentially influencing implantation outcomes. At the same time, egg quality, s***m quality, mitochondrial function, inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic health, and uterine receptivity are all shaped by the weeks and months leading into treatment.
This is why preparation matters.

Not because it guarantees an outcome.

But because it gives your body the best opportunity to respond to treatment.

Before asking whether it’s time for another cycle, it may be worth asking:

Have we optimised the factors that influence success?

✔️ Egg quality
✔️ S***m quality
✔️ Metabolic health
✔️ Inflammation
✔️ Microbiome health
✔️ Uterine receptivity

The goal isn’t simply more treatment.

The goal is better preparation for treatment.

25/05/2026

Your gut microbiome and reproductive system are deeply connected - influencing inflammation, hormone signalling, ovulation, metabolic health, uterine receptivity, and even how the ovaries respond during IVF.

And the exciting part?
The microbiome is dynamic.

It responds to your daily inputs:
✔️ fibre diversity
✔️ nutrition
✔️ movement
✔️ sleep
✔️ stress management
✔️ metabolic health

Fertility isn’t isolated to the ovaries.
It’s connected to the environment surrounding every system in the body.

Supporting your microbiome before fertility treatment may help create a healthier foundation for conception, implantation, and pregnancy.

Your biology is not fixed. 🌱

If you are wanting to support your reproductive health we provide the evidenced based strategies to optimise your chance of pregnancy success.

Access our nutrition guidance online now (course link in bio) or book your initial consultation to begin working with us 🌱.

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