Trying to conceive? The effects of collagen supplementation by Alex Marks
Trying to Conceive: Looking After Your Wellbeing
Trying for a baby can be one of the most hopeful — and, at times, most emotionally demanding — chapters of life. This piece is about looking after you during it: your wellbeing, your self-care, and an honest answer to a question we're often asked, which is whether a collagen supplement has any role here. The short, truthful version up front: collagen is not a fertility aid. But your wellbeing genuinely matters, so let's talk about what does help. For the wider picture on collagen, see our complete guide to liquid marine collagen.
A Word From Alex
As an ante/post natal personal training specialist, I've supported a lot of people through this stage, and the thing I most want to say is this: be kind to yourself. Trying to conceive can stir up a lot — hope, anxiety, frustration, and sometimes grief. None of that is a failing on your part, and please don't let anyone (including the internet) make you feel that your emotions are something to "fix" in order to get pregnant.
Looking after your wellbeing during this time isn't a conception strategy — it's something you deserve regardless of the outcome. Rest, connection, gentle movement and moments of self-kindness are valuable in their own right.
An Honest Word on Stress and Fertility
You'll read a lot online linking stress to infertility, so let me be careful and honest here. It's well recognised that infertility and fertility treatment can be deeply stressful — the distress is a very understandable response to a hard situation. What's far less clear, and often overstated, is the idea that stress itself causes infertility. Framing it that way can pile guilt onto people who are already going through enough. So rather than "reduce stress to conceive," I'd gently reframe it as: this is a demanding time, and you deserve support for your own sake. If anxiety or low mood is weighing on you, please talk to your GP — and know that fertility clinics often have counselling support too.
What Actually Supports You
- Folic acid and preconception care — the single most important nutrition step; speak to your GP about this and any other preconception advice.
- A balanced diet and gentle activity — support overall health for both partners.
- Emotional support — a partner, friends, your GP, or specialist fertility counselling. You don't have to carry this alone.
- Self-kindness — small rituals that help you feel cared for, whatever they are for you.
So Where Does Collagen Fit?
Honestly? Only at the edges, as a self-care nicety — not as anything to do with conception. Collagen's genuine, well-evidenced benefit is for skin hydration and elasticity over 8 to 12 weeks of consistent use. If taking a daily collagen sachet is a small ritual that helps you feel good in your skin during a stressful time, that's a perfectly lovely reason to use it — provided your GP is happy with it. But it won't influence your fertility, and I'd never want you to buy it believing it might. Self-love is the honest spirit of it; a fertility claim is not.
Trying to Conceive & Collagen at a Glance
| Question | The honest answer |
|---|---|
| Does collagen aid conception? | No — there's no evidence it does |
| Most important nutrition step? | Folic acid (400μg) — and Kollo doesn't contain it |
| Does managing stress "fix" fertility? | No — but your wellbeing matters for its own sake |
| What does collagen genuinely do? | Supports skin hydration and elasticity |
| Who should I talk to? | Your GP or a fertility specialist |
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Shop Now →The Bottom Line
Trying to conceive asks a lot of you emotionally, and you deserve kindness and support through it — for your own sake, not as a means to an end. The things that genuinely matter for conception are folic acid, good preconception care and the guidance of your GP or a fertility specialist. Collagen has no part in that story; where it fits is simply as a small, optional ritual for your skin, if it helps you feel cared for.
If that's how you'd like to use it, and your GP is happy, our complete guide to liquid marine collagen has the detail, our joint supplements guide covers joint comfort, and our women's wellness guide looks at supporting yourself through life's changes.
Kollo Health was co-founded by Jenni Falconer - TV presenter, Smooth Radio breakfast host, ten-time London Marathon runner and host of the RunPod podcast. Read her story and why she created Kollo.
