Wherever you are in your fertility journey, you’ve probably been tempted by the allure of supplements. While there are a lot to choose from — and a lot of claims to sort through — only one is really worth trying, an infertility expert says.
No supplement has been proven to “ensure that you’re going to get pregnant faster, that you’re going to reverse your biological clock or that you’re going to improve egg quality,” Dr. Lucky Sekhon, reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist based in New York City, tells TODAY.com.
“But there’s no shortage of claims about certain supplements being able to do all of those things,” says Sekhon, author of the new book “The Lucky Egg: Understanding Your Fertility and How to Get Pregnant Now.”
Understandably, people want to do everything in their power to improve their chances of a healthy pregnancy. But they aren’t always aware of how little data there is to support the use of these supplements, Sekhon adds. And supplements can also come with real health risks that are often overlooked.
What to Know Before Taking a Fertility Supplement
The average fertility journey “has become a very extreme situation that usually involves a countertop in their bathroom that’s littered with supplements,” Sekhon says.
Of course, people trying to get pregnant should be taking a prenatal vitamin, as well as other supplements needed to address diagnosed deficiencies, such as vitamin D, Sekhon says.
The problem is that people often assume that supplements and vitamins are safer than pharmaceutical drugs because they’re “natural,” she says. So they start adding more and more to their regimen without proven benefits.
However, the opposite is often true because supplements aren’t regulated as tightly as pharmaceutical medications are.
“A lot of times, these are not benign,” Sekhon says. “Supplements can interact with other medications that you’re taking, and they can have side effects.” Even seemingly “natural” and safe options like turmeric and vitamin A can cause serious side effects if taken in high enough doses.
The 1 Fertility Supplement That Might Be Worth Taking
In addition to a standard prenatal vitamin, there’s one supplement Sekhon often recommends to her female fertility patients because it has some promising evidence and appears quite safe.
That supplement is coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an antioxidant that may also have benefits for heart health, brain health and preventing migraine attacks, TODAY.com reported previously. However, evidence is generally limited for all of these potential applications, experts said previously.
“Most of the studies, if you look at them individually, are still pretty small and have major design flaws,” Sekhon says. “But when you look at the data in total, there is a potential trend.”
For example, she points to a 2024 meta-analysis in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study looked at results from six randomized controlled trials and included data for more than 1,500 female patients. The results suggest that CoQ10 supplementation could lead to improvements in the numbers of eggs and embryos yielded from a cycle, as well as better rates of pregnancy, among people undergoing infertility treatment.
Some data suggests that antioxidants, including CoQ10, can also help with sperm motility and improve fertilization. (However, while a meta-analysis confirmed the supplement’s benefits for sperm quality, they didn’t find any data on birth rates.)
That doesn’t mean everyone needs to be on CoQ10 for a successful pregnancy, of course, Sekhon says. But if you’re looking for something extra, this is one option that may have a benefit and is generally safe, she says.
And, as Sekhon writes in her book, she often recommends it to patients undergoing fertility treatments such as IVF.
So, with your doctor’s guidance, this is one low-risk supplement that might be worth trying on a fertility journey. There are different forms of CoQ10 available and the right dosage will depend on which one you’re taking, Sekhon notes, so it’s important to check in with your medical team before adding this — or any — new supplement to your routine.
