It can be done either way! Many of our couples work with us fully remote, and if you're local, in-person visits are available too.

It's a financial investment, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. For comparison: a single round of IVF runs $15,000–$25,000 without insurance, most couples need more than one round, and that's before the hormones, the medications, and the mental, emotional and physical toll the process takes on both of you. This program is a totally different approach focused on transformation. In fact, most couples finish this healthier, more connected, and more confident in their own bodies, even in the seasons when they aren't yet pregnant. Exact pricing is walked through on your free consult once I know how I can help you!

No! This program supports optimal body function whether you have a diagnosis like PCOS, endometriosis, or thyroid issues, or you've been told "everything looks normal."

Because conception takes two bodies, and his half matters far past the moment of conception. Research links semen health to miscarriage rates and to pregnancy complications like morning sickness, gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. That means optimizing his health isn't a nice-to-have bonus, it's part of building the foundation for the whole pregnancy, not just the start of it. Couples who go through this together give themselves the full picture instead of half of it.

Most approaches, including a lot of the natural ones, chase symptoms or lab values without ever asking why the body is responding that way in the first place. Chasing a number can move the number without changing anything underneath it.

Within the Schaefer Protocol framework, we start steps earlier. Instead of chasing the symptom or the lab value, we look at why your body is responding that way in the first place: how your nervous system is regulating, how metabolically flexible you are, how the two of you are recovering. Those are the systems that decide whether your health and hormones are supported enough to create life, not just look good on a lab workup.

This program cannot be done at the same time as active treatment. Fertility medications change what your body is doing month to month, and that makes it impossible to see what's actually working. So if you're in a medicated cycle or preparing for IUI or IVF right now, finish that round first and if it doesn't go the way you hoped, I'm here when you're ready! Some couples do it the other way around and go through the protocol first, before they begin IVF, so they walk into that cycle with their body functioning as well as it can. However, many couples go through the program without ever seeking additional medications or treatments.

Honestly, it depends less on the program and more on the couple. The couples who follow the protocol fully, consistent with supplements, committed to the changes, see significantly better outcomes than those who start strong and taper off partway through. We'll be upfront with you on your consult about what full commitment actually looks like, so you know exactly what you're signing up for before you start!