Have you tested sperm DNA fragmentation before your next cycle?
Even a perfect egg needs healthy sperm to make an embryo.
A standard semen analysis measures count, motility and shape — not DNA fragmentation (DFI), which is independently associated with failed fertilization and day-5 embryo arrest. It's one partner's biology, but it affects you both at once: his sperm is half of every embryo. And DFI isn't fixed — it's shaped by biology, and biology responds to lifestyle in the roughly 3 to 3.5 months before your cycle. That window is where we look at both of your lifestyles, together.
A 60–90 minute couples session with Dr. Leila Fazlicic, D.Ac, L.Ac · You both leave with one personalized 12-week plan.
Half of the embryo is his — and its DNA is measured by a different test.
A standard semen analysis looks at count, motility and morphology — and those can all read normal while the DNA inside the sperm is fragmented. Sperm DNA fragmentation (DFI, the DNA Fragmentation Index) is a separate, specialized test that's independently associated with failed fertilization, poor embryo development, and day-5 embryo arrest. Clinics appropriately order it when there's a reason to — most often after a cycle hasn't worked or with recurrent loss, which is standard, sensible care. This page simply puts the information in front of you, so you and your physician can decide whether it's worth looking at lifestyle in the window beforehand.
Sperm DNA isn't a footnote to the male partner's health — it's half of the genetic blueprint of the embryo. A perfect egg still needs healthy sperm to make one. And DFI isn't fixed: sperm are rebuilt roughly every 90 days, which means it's modifiable — but only through biology, in the window before your cycle.
A "normal" semen analysis and DFI measure different things. Count, motility and morphology can all pass while DFI is elevated — only one of these tracks the integrity of the DNA the embryo inherits.
Sperm are rebuilt on a roughly 90-day cycle. The sperm present at retrieval were produced during the three months before it — the same window in which biology is being shaped by daily lifestyle inputs.
DFI is modifiable — only through biology. It isn't changed by willpower or a single supplement. It responds to biology, and biology responds to lifestyle and daily inputs. That is the entire reason the window before your cycle matters.
The question isn't "what can I do." It's what can we do before the next cycle.
You've likely already done your part. But an embryo is built from two halves — half her egg, half his sperm — so the question that matters isn't what one partner can do. It's what you can do together, before the next cycle, in the same biological window. A perfect egg still needs healthy sperm to make an embryo. Both halves, and both lifestyles, belong in the same conversation.
A mature egg
Healthy sperm
You were never meant to carry this alone. It's her 50 and his 50 — two halves, one window, one plan you build together.
The same window shapes her eggs, too.
The 3 to 3.5-month window isn't only his. Eggs complete their final maturation over the same months before retrieval, and the biology they mature in is shaped by lifestyle during that same window. That's why this is a couples conversation: two timelines, one window, both partners from day one.
The final maturation of eggs and the full production cycle of sperm both fall inside this window. It's the same window for both partners — which is exactly why both partners start adjusting on day one, not just the one going through retrieval.
The egg's last chapter
In the months before retrieval, follicles complete their final maturation. The environment those eggs mature in — metabolic, hormonal, oxidative — is shaped by daily lifestyle inputs during this window.
Sperm made from scratch
Sperm are produced fresh on roughly a 3-month cycle. The sperm present at your cycle were built during this exact window — which means his inputs matter just as much, and just as early, as hers.
Your protocol is doing its job. It just isn't doing this one.
Clinical protocols are powerful — and there are things they're simply not built to reach. Naming that clearly isn't a criticism of your clinic. It's how you know where lifestyle actually earns its place.
Clinical protocol can raise egg quantity — not quality. Stimulation is designed to recruit more follicles. The quality of what matures inside them is shaped by the environment those eggs develop in during the window.
DFI isn't part of the standard workup. Because it's a separate test, many couples first hear about sperm DNA fragmentation only after a cycle that didn't work. It's simply worth knowing it exists, so you can ask your fertility physician whether to look at it earlier.
You're already doing the things that shape biology. You eat, you sleep, you manage stress, you move. These aren't extras — they're the daily inputs that shape the biology in which egg and sperm develop during the window. The question isn't whether to do them. It's whether they're aligned with what your biology needs right now.
No new chores. No restrictions that backfire. Just your lifestyle, analyzed and aligned.
This isn't another protocol stacked on top of the one your clinic gave you. It doesn't compete with your appointments or your medication schedule — it works alongside them. And it isn't about rigid rules. It's a lifestyle analysis for both partners, timed to the window.
What your fertility clinic handles
- Stimulation and medication protocol
- Monitoring, retrieval and transfer
- Egg quantity and cycle timing
- Testing, diagnosis and medical care
We build entirely around this — never in place of it.
What this session adds
- A look at the biology in which egg and sperm develop in the window
- Analysis of the lifestyle inputs you already have
- Personalized to how each of you responds
- Both partners, one plan, from day one
Lifestyle, analyzed and aligned — not added to.
No rigid restrictions. Severe, punishing restriction is itself a stressor — and stress works against the same biology you're trying to support for growth. Over-restricting can backfire. We adjust; we don't punish.
One personalized 12-week plan. Both partners. Same document.
You don't leave with a vague sense of "eat better and relax." You leave with a written, personalized 12-week plan built from your own daily habits — practical, day-to-day suggestions for each of you, mapped onto the same window. Not a generic protocol. Your routines, adjusted, so you're working together as one plan instead of two separate projects.
For her — the egg's window
- Lifestyle adjustments that support the biology of egg development
- Aligned to the maturation window and your daily inputs
- Timed to sit alongside your clinical schedule
For him — the sperm's window
- Lifestyle inputs that support healthy sperm biology in the window
- Sperm DNA fragmentation (DFI) explained — and what to ask your physician about
- Same 3 to 3.5-month window, starting the same day
A focused session that leaves you with a plan — not homework.
One sitting with Dr. Leila, both partners present. We analyze the daily habits you already have — food, sleep, stress, movement — look at where they align with the biology of the window, and map out your personalized 12-week plan together. Most couples need about an hour; when there's more to work through, it runs up to 90 minutes.
Pre-IVF couples session + personalized 12-week plan
- Analysis of both partners' current daily habits
- Where sperm DNA fragmentation (DFI) fits — and what to ask your physician
- A personalized 12-week plan for both of you, in one document
- Day-to-day suggestions built from your own routines
Pick your time and reserve your spot in the next step. Limited couples per week.
You don't need to be perfect. You need to be consistent — because we're working with biology, and biology responds to time when you give it the right inputs from day one.
— Dr. Leila Fazlicic, D.Ac, L.Ac
Her 50. His 50. One window, looked at together.
About 3 to 3.5 months before your cycle, both of your lifestyles can be analyzed and aligned to support the biology in which egg and sperm develop. Reserve your session, bring your partner, and leave with one plan you build together — from day one.
Reserve your session — $400