IVF is one of the most demanding things a woman can go through.
This guide is the honest companion nobody gives you.
Not the brochure. Not "stay positive." Not a generic wellness checklist.
The emotional truth of what this process actually feels like — named clearly, without flinching. And the clinical preparation that gives your body the best possible chance. Including what a 2025 meta-analysis of 42 published studies found about acupuncture and IVF outcomes — and what to do with that information.
Written by someone who has been in the room for this, hundreds of times, over 20 years — and who knows what actually helps.
Get Your Free IVF Survival Guide
Download the Free Guide →What nobody puts in a brochure.
Six things this guide covers that your clinic doesn't have time to.
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1
The thing IVF doesn't prepare you for — and why being honest about it is the first thing that actually helps.
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Why the three months before retrieval may matter more than the two weeks after transfer — and what most women spend that time doing instead.
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The clinical reason the harder you try, the harder this gets — and why the solution is not what you'd expect.
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What a 2025 meta-analysis of 42 published studies found about the most critical 24-hour window in your entire IVF cycle.
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The clinical question your IVF clinic almost certainly hasn't asked — and why the answer changes what's possible.
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Why an Epsom salt bath matters more than an organic food shop — and what that actually means for how to approach the whole thing.
Most of what's written about IVF is either clinical or impossibly vague.
This is neither.
For most women, IVF arrives as the end of the safety net.
While trying naturally, there's always a thought in the background — if this doesn't work, we can do IVF. It's a backup plan. A next step. But once IVF is the plan, that safety net is gone. And the fear that rushes in to fill that space is one of the most intense emotional experiences a woman can have.
Nobody talks about that honestly. Not in the brochure. Not in the appointment.
Then there's the perfectionism. Eat the right foods. Take the right supplements. Keep stress down. Sleep enough. Don't exercise too hard. Don't exercise too little. Track everything. Optimise everything. Control everything — as though doing one tiny thing wrong will be the difference between getting a baby and not getting one.
And then there's the loneliness. Most women don't tell people they're doing IVF. Which means most women go through it carrying an enormous, largely invisible emotional load — partners invested but not experiencing it the same way, friends unaware, the internal experience of hope and grief at every scan result happening in private.
And the waiting. Nobody prepares you for how much of IVF is waiting. Every single stage has a wait. And at the end of every wait is either a step forward or a loss.
This is the emotional reality of IVF. It is real. It is valid. And it is almost never named clearly in the information available to women going through it.
This guide names it. And then it gives you the clinical preparation that makes a measurable difference to what your body can do.
Your IVF Survival Guide — everything the consultation couldn't cover.
Not a wellness checklist. A clinical resource written for a woman who is research-literate, deeply invested in getting this right, and ready for the full picture. Written by Katie Kempthorne — naturopath and TCM acupuncturist — from 20 years of supporting women through IVF.
Get Your Free IVF Survival Guide
Download the Free Guide →
Katie Kempthorne
Naturopath & TCM Acupuncturist · Auckland
- Bachelor of Health Science in Complementary Medicine — Charles Sturt University
- Post-graduate Diploma in Chinese Medicine Acupuncture — AUT (practical training in hospitals in Nanjing, China)
- Advanced Diplomas in Naturopathy and Medical Herbalism — South Pacific College of Natural Medicine
- Registered Acupuncturist — Chinese Medicine Council of New Zealand
- Naturopath & Medical Herbalist — NMHNZ
- 20+ years in clinical practice, specialising in fertility, IVF support, and women's health
What the guide gives you.
Five sections. Everything the appointment can't cover.
01
Understood. Not reassured — actually seen.
You'll finish this section feeling understood in a way that most IVF information doesn't manage. Not advised. Not reframed. Actually seen — the fear, the perfectionism, the specific loneliness of going through this largely invisibly, and the relentless waiting. Most women describe this as the first time it's been named clearly.
02
A clear starting point — whatever time you have.
You'll know exactly what to prioritise in the time available. Three months, three weeks, or ten days before stimulation — the guide is honest about time constraints and gives you a clear, actionable starting point. Not a list of things you've already missed.
03
A reframe that changes how you prepare.
You'll leave this section approaching your preparation differently. Not trying less hard — working with your hormones rather than against them. Understanding why white-knuckling every variable raises the very cortisol that suppresses FSH, LH, and progesterone. That shift alone changes what the next cycle looks like.
04
An informed view of acupuncture — based on what the research actually shows.
You'll be able to have a genuinely informed conversation with your clinic about acupuncture timing. Not because you've read a summary — because the guide explains what the evidence actually shows, in plain language, without overstating it. Including what the 42-study meta-analysis found about the most critical 24 hours of the cycle.
05
What becomes possible when two frameworks work together.
You'll understand what changes when the naturopath and the acupuncturist are the same person — what gets seen, what gets treated, and why the clinical picture is genuinely different from seeing each separately. And what that means for your preparation.
Women who came in carrying questions — and left with answers.
"I found Katie three months before my IVF cycle began. I thought I was doing everything right. Then she explained about the 90-day window — why that time actually matters and what I could do to change the environment my eggs were developing in. Nobody had come close to explaining that to me. I went into my cycle feeling genuinely prepared."
Mai · Takapuna · 2026
"I came to Katie because I'd read the research on acupuncture and IVF and wanted someone who could actually translate it for me clinically. She did exactly that. And what she found when she looked at my full picture was more than I expected. She's the most thorough practitioner I've seen in three years of trying."
Cushla · Glenfield · 2026
"I downloaded the guide two weeks before my first cycle and it changed how I went into it. Not because it gave me more to do — but because it helped me understand what mattered and what didn't. I felt prepared in a way I hadn't before."
Julie · Bucklands Beach · 2026
Your IVF Survival Guide.
Free.
42
Published studies
20+
Years experience
$0
Cost to you
The value of a 90-minute initial consultation with Katie is $185. This guide is the conversation that precedes that consultation — the foundation that makes everything that follows more effective.
The guide is most useful when there's still time to act on it. If your next cycle is approaching — now is the right time to read it.
It is free because every woman walking into IVF deserves access to this information, regardless of whether she can see a practitioner.
If after reading the guide you decide to book a consultation, mention IVF Survival Guide in your booking notes and we'll take $20 off your initial consultation.
Get Your Free IVF Survival Guide
Download the Free Guide →The 90-day window before your next cycle is already running.
If your next retrieval is within three months, the environment that determines your egg quality is being shaped right now — by your blood flow, your nutrition, your cortisol levels, your sleep. Most of what makes a measurable difference is most effective when it starts before stimulation begins, not after.
The guide explains exactly what to prioritise and how. Reading it takes less than an hour.
If you haven't downloaded it yet — this is the moment.
The guide is free. But the approach it describes is the same one Katie uses with every IVF patient she sees in clinic. If, after reading it, you'd like to work through your specific situation — your test results, your timeline, your body — Katie's initial consultations are 90 minutes, $185, available in clinic in Sandringham or online for naturopathy. The link to book is in every email she sends.
For now — download the guide. Read it. And if it changes how you go into your next cycle — that is exactly what it was written for.