If you or your husband are considering IUI or IVF, this is the conversation I believe you need to have first. Not to discourage you or to shame the path you’re on. But because you deserve to know what most fertility clinics simply don’t discuss — and it could change everything.

This month on the podcast, we’re focused on IUI and IVF. In this episode, I walk you through the missing pieces that must be addressed before these procedures are ever placed on the table. Whether you’re newly diagnosed with unexplained infertility or you’ve been on this road for years, this is for you sister.

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He Laid the Foundations

Before we dive in, I want us to anchor in Proverbs 3:19–26. The passage reminds us that by God’s wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, He laid the foundations of the earth, set the heavens in place, and divided the waters. He is a foundational God. And He knows exactly how He designed your body and what it needs.

Whatever big decision is in front of you right now, you don’t have to navigate it alone. You get to seek His wisdom, His understanding, and His knowledge as you walk through it.

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What IUI and IVF Actually Do

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are medical procedures designed to assist or override a woman’s body in the process of ovulation and fertilization. IUI works by preparing and inserting the husband’s sperm directly into the uterus, timed to ovulation. IVF takes this further by stimulating the ovaries with medications, retrieving eggs, fertilizing them in a lab, and transferring embryos into the womb.

Here’s what both of these procedures have in common: they do not fix any root issues. They are not designed to. Prescriptive medications are water-soluble, meaning they dissolve through the bloodstream — they cannot heal cells or restore damaged tissue. They can force or override your body’s systems, but they cannot bring true cellular healing.

What does bring healing? Things that are fat-soluble — vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other natural supports that can actually bind to cells and begin the restoration process. But even those are only part of the picture.

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The Three Missing Pieces

When I talk about what must be addressed before IUI or IVF, I’m really talking about three key areas:

1. Ovulation and egg quality — If your ovulation is struggling, the quality of your egg is affected. And egg quality directly impacts the genetic and DNA makeup of a baby. No procedure changes that foundation.
2. Progesterone — If your body isn’t producing enough progesterone naturally, supplementing it is not a root cause fix. It’s important to understand why your body is struggling to make it and address those underlying reasons first.
3. Uterine lining health — Your womb is made of cells and tissues. If it’s inflamed, hostile, or nutrient-deficient, it creates a hard environment for an embryo to implant and grow, regardless of how the embryo got there.

These are the things that fertility clinics rarely investigate in depth. And yet they are foundational to the success of any conception.

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A Story That Changed Everything

I was once on a walk with a friend who was about to pursue IVF. She had seen every doctor. They ran every test and were given the label of “unexplained infertility.” IVF, she was told, was her only option.

I asked her a simple question: “What are your periods like?”

What she described was not a healthy period. And when I asked if any of her doctors had explored her period health in depth, the answer was no. They had never asked beyond the first day of her last cycle. No one had connected her menstrual health to her ovulation quality or hormonal picture. And yet, here she was, being handed a referral for IVF.

That conversation stopped her in her tracks. It led her to do the foundational work her body actually needed first.

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This Is Not About Saying No To IVF

If you’ve done all the root cause work — you’ve addressed your thyroid, your gut health, your mineral balance, your sleep, your cycle health, your hormones — and you and your husband have prayed through every step with discernment, that is a completely different conversation. There is a time and place for medical assistance. This post is not about shaming that path.

This is about making sure you’ve been given the foundation you deserve before arriving at that door. Because if the foundation isn’t addressed, even IVF cannot guarantee the outcome your heart is praying for.

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