Told donor eggs after failed IVF? There is a category of testing that your fertility clinic does not run. We rarely run a stool test and find nothing.

The IVF cycle did not work. Maybe it was poor response. Maybe it was canceled before retrieval. Maybe you got embryos and they arrested. Maybe the transfer failed. Your clinic looked at your numbers and told you donor eggs.

In this episode, Sarah Clark walks through the gut pattern the Fab Fertile team sees in women who come to us after failed IVF with a donor egg recommendation, and why this pattern changes the picture before the next decision.

What this episode covers:

H. pylori. One of the most common findings in the women who come to us after failed IVF. It impairs absorption of iron, vitamin B12, and zinc, the nutrients that affect egg quality, thyroid function, and hormone production. It is passed back and forth between partners through saliva. If you have it, there is a strong chance your partner has it too.

Parasites, giardia, blastocystis. Common findings. Rarely tested at the fertility clinic.

Bacterial overgrowth, including streptococcus. Fungal overgrowth and dysbiosis. The reason chasing an anti-candida diet without testing moves you in circles.

Elevated calprotectin. A signal of gut inflammation, often present in women with IBD, Crohn's, colitis, and women with no formal diagnosis.

Elevated zonulin. A marker of intestinal permeability. The pattern we see after rounds of antibiotics, sinus infections, UTIs, birth control, and high stress.

Why this matters before a donor egg decision:

H. pylori impairs iron absorption. Ferritin reads low or low-normal. The clinic says iron is fine because the lab range starts around 15. The fertility-optimized range is closer to 50. Iron is foundational to egg quality. The oxygen carrying capacity to your follicles depends on it.

B12 affects methylation, the process your body uses to produce the co-factors needed for egg maturation.

Zinc affects ovulation and progesterone production.

Chronic gut inflammation affects ovarian response to stimulation, implantation, and miscarriage risk.

When your clinic looks at a canceled cycle, arrested embryos, or a failed transfer and recommends donor eggs, they are responding to the outcome. They are not asking what is driving the outcome.

This episode is for the woman sitting with a donor egg recommendation who is not ready to agree before she understands what was actually evaluated.

Next steps:

Access the free guide: What Your Clinic Missed. It walks through the markers we review before a donor egg recommendation, including the thyroid panel, the iron panel with the fertility target, the gut testing your REI does not order, the inflammatory markers, and the male side.

Email [email protected], subject line MISSED.

Book a Functional Fertility Second Opinion. We will review your labs, your history, your full picture, and your partner's picture together. You will leave knowing what your biology has been telling you and what your next decision should be informed by.

Email [email protected], subject line FERTILE. Or apply here.

About the Host

I'm Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile and host of Get Pregnant Naturally, a podcast with over one million downloads. My functional fertility team works with couples navigating low AMH and failed IVF, reviewing functional lab results, gut microbiome, food sensitivity, vaginal microbiome, nutrigenomics, HTMA, DUTCH, toxin testing, and bloodwork alongside nervous system work, to help identify patterns that may not have been considered. We work alongside your medical team, not instead of them.

Subscribe to Get Pregnant Naturally for weekly episodes on fertility optimization, IVF preparation, and the lab work your doctor probably isn't running.

Timestamps

[00:00] Told Donor Eggs After Failed IVF [01:00] Why the Fab Fertile Team Reviews Your Picture [02:00] H. pylori: The Most Common Gut Finding We See [03:00] Parasites, Streptococcus, and the Bacteria Most REIs Do Not Test [04:00] Why a Single Gut Test Without Fertility Context Misses the Picture [05:00] Iron, Ferritin, and the Fertility Range vs the Lab Range [06:00] B12, Methylation, and Egg Maturation [07:00] Zinc, Ovulation, and Progesterone [08:00] What Your Clinic Missed: The Markers Before a Donor Egg Recommendation [09:00] Why a Donor Egg Recommendation Responds to the Outcome, Not the Cause [10:00] The Functional Fertility Second Opinion: What the Call Covers