Is Ureaplasma Sabotaging Your Fertility? Here’s What You Need to Know

If you’ve been trying to conceive with low AMH, high FSH, diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), or poor egg quality and nothing seems to be working… or if you’ve experienced failed IVF cycles or unexplained pregnancy loss - this episode is for you.

We’re diving into one of the most overlooked infections that could be silently impacting your fertility: Ureaplasma. This commonly missed microbe can compromise egg quality, disrupt implantation, and contribute to early miscarriage, even when labs appear “normal.”

How Ureaplasma  Impacts IVF Success and Miscarriage Risk: Key Research Findings

Studies are shedding light on how this common infection can impact fertility even when everything else appears “normal.”

This study discusses how Ureaplasma urealyticum, a common genital tract infection, affects IVF. Researchers found it didn’t affect fertilization or embryo quality but was linked to lower pregnancy rates after embryo transfer. The culprit? Infection in the endometrial lining can disrupt implantation. So even if embryos look good, Ureaplasma can still sabotage IVF success.

This study looked at whether Ureaplasma urealyticum in men’s semen affects IVF. The results? Fertilization and pregnancy rates were the same for infected and uninfected men. But here’s the thing: miscarriage rates were much higher in couples where the male partner had the infection. So Ureaplasma might not stop you from getting pregnant, but it can increase the risk of losing the pregnancy. 

Trying Naturally or Preparing for IVF? What You Need to Know About Ureaplasma, Egg Quality, and the Vaginal Microbiome

• How Ureaplasma affects egg and embryo quality, implantation, and ovarian reserve
• Why this infection is often missed on standard fertility workups
• The importance of partner testing and treating both partners
• When and how to test for Ureaplasma
• The functional fertility approach we use at Fab Fertile to rebalance the vaginal and seminal microbiome for optimal conception

If you’ve done “all the things” and still aren’t seeing results, this episode may reveal a missing piece of your fertility puzzle.

Case Study: Restoring Vaginal Microbiome to Overcome Low AMH and Recurrent Miscarriage

This case is a 43 year old who had low AMH, high FSH and recurrent miscarriage. Through functional fertility testing including vaginal microbiome analysis, hidden imbalances were found.

By addressing the vaginal microbiome and restoring balance along with lifestyle and nutritional support she was able to create a fertile environment. This holistic approach allowed her to get pregnant naturally after previous fertility struggles.

This case shows how important vaginal microbiome health is for women with diminished ovarian reserve and unexplained miscarriage. Read more about Valarie's story.

Struggling with Low AMH, Failed IVF, or Unexplained Loss? This Episode Could Reveal What’s Been Missed

• You’re struggling to conceive naturally despite doing “all the right things.”
• You’ve had failed IVF transfers, poor egg quality, or diminished ovarian reserve without clear answers.
• You’ve experienced recurrent infections or unexplained pregnancy losses.

How Ureaplasma Impacts Egg Quality, IVF Failure, and Low AMH: What Most Fertility Tests Miss

• Why Ureaplasma and Mycoplasma are often missed in standard fertility testing and why they matter for egg quality, implantation and pregnancy maintenance.
• How Ureaplasma can contribute to low AMH, high FSH, and diminished ovarian reserve by increasing inflammation in the reproductive tract and altering the vaginal microbiome.
• The link between Ureaplasma and recurrent miscarriage, failed IVF, and abnormal embryos, even when other tests are “normal”.
• The functional fertility approach to addressing Ureaplasma with targeted antimicrobials, vaginal microbiome restoration, and gut health support for natural and assisted conception.

TIMESTAMPS - Ureaplasma and Fertility: What You Need to Know if You’re TTC with Low AMH or Facing Failed IVF

[00:00:00] -The Hidden Role of Ureaplasma in Egg Quality, IVF Failure, and Pregnancy Loss

Intro: Ureaplasma’s hidden role in fertility struggles,  natural conception, failed IVF, low AMH, DOR, poor egg quality, and unexplained pregnancy loss.

[00:01:00] Is This Episode for You? TTC Challenges Like Low AMH, DOR, High FSH, and RPL

Who this episode is for: Fertility challenges, including low AMH, high FSH, DOR, RPL, recurrent infections, and unexplained infertility.

[00:02:00] What Is Ureaplasma? How It Impacts the Vaginal Microbiome, Sperm, and Implantation

What is Ureaplasma? Impact on vaginal and seminal microbiome, egg and sperm quality, inflammation, and implantation failure.

[00:03:00] Who Should Get Tested for Ureaplasma? Red Flags for Natural and IVF Conception

Who should get tested? Those with unexplained infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, persistent infections, elevated CRP/ANA, poor IVF outcomes, or partner infection history.

[00:04:00] Why Testing the Microbiome Can Reveal What Standard Fertility Tests Miss

Why microbiome testing matters: Gut, vaginal, and seminal microbiome panels uncover hidden infections missed by conventional testing.

[00:05:00] Red Flags to Watch For: Failed IVF Transfers, RPL After Heartbeat

Key red flags: Multiple failed IVF transfers, RPL after heartbeat confirmation, chronic vaginal/urinary symptoms, and abnormal semen analysis.

[00:06:00] Functional Testing Options vs Conventional: PCR and Microbiome Insights

Testing methods: Functional medicine/nutrition, PCR, and microbiome panels (e.g., Juno Bio) versus limited conventional testing.

[00:07:00] How Balancing the Microbiome Can Improve Egg Quality and IVF Outcomes

Supporting Fertility Success: Using biofilm disruptors and restoring balance in gut and vaginal microbiomes to improve egg quality and IVF outcomes.

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] If you've been trying to conceive naturally but aren't seeing results, or you've faced failed IVF transfers poor, egg quality diminished ovarian reserve without clear answers and maybe you kept dealing with unexplained infections or pregnancy losses. Today we're uncovering the hidden role of ureaplasma.

A silent infection that might be sabotaging your fertility. At the end of the episode, you should know who should get tested, why it matters, how ureaplasma impacts natural conception, egg retrieval, embryo transfer, and the protocols will give you the best chance for success. Excited for you to listen.

Let's go.

Welcome back. I'm Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile. For over a decade, my team and I have helped hundreds of couples improve their chances. A pregnancy success, whether naturally or through IVF. We specialize in supporting those with low AMH high FSH, diminished ovarian reserve, premature ovarian insufficiency, and recurrent pregnancy loss through functional testing and personalized fertility strategies.

Today we're digging into [00:01:00] ureaplasma and how this could be a hidden factor for failed IVF transfers, poor egg quality, and diminished ovarian reserve. This episode is for you, if you've been struggling to conceive naturally despite doing all the right things, you've had failed IVF transfers, poor egg quality, diminished ovarian reserve without clear answers, and you've experienced recurrent infections or unexplained pregnancy losses.

Thanks so much for listening. I'm so thankful that you're here. Make sure you hit subscribe or follow, and if you know someone else who's on the fertility journey, please share this podcast with them.

 Let's get into the episode. We're talking all about ureaplasma. So it's a bacteria from the mycoplasma family and it's often asymptomatic. There can be some symptoms to look at. They lack a cell wall, so making it harder to detect and resistant to many antibiotics.

So ureplasma can disrupt the vaginal microbiome, impair sperm, and egg quality increase inflammation, and interfere with implantation. So [00:02:00] who should get tested? So those that are trying to conceive for 12 months or more without success. Unexplained infertility, which is a lazy person's diagnosis, that's not a diagnosis.

We've got to dig deeper with functional medicine and functional nutrition there's a lot of things we can do for unexplained, but definitely don't take that as a diagnosis. If you've got a history of recurrent early pregnancy loss or miscarriage, especially after a confirmed heartbeat.

Got persistent bacterial vaginosis, yeast infections, frequent UTIs despite treatment. You've got suspected endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease. You've got elevated systemic or local inflammation. So you've got a positive ANA, your CRP or your high sensitivity.

C-reactive protein is elevated, so more than one.

So you've had a male partner with prior sexually transmitted infections. Your current partner has poor semen parameters or chronic prostatitis. For people that have gone through IVF. So poor egg quality [00:03:00] or low ovarian reserve or an unexplained cause, failed egg retrievals or very low yield in previous cycles, failed embryo transfers, so implantation transfers even when the embryos are chromosomally normal.

So they're PGTA tested. Recurrent chemical pregnancies or early miscarriages post transfer. A presence of abnormal embryos repeatedly without clear genetic cause. History of recurrent vaginal infections during IVF cycle monitoring.

Elevated urine or cervical inflammation noted during your fertility workup. So that's a lot of things here. We will do a vaginal microbiome test, which looks for ureaplasma with anyone on the fertility journey. We do your gut microbiome, and then we do the vaginal microbiome. And sometimes we can do the seminal microbiome.

This is routinely missed in conventional medicine. You're spending tens of thousands of dollars and you're having some of those results. And this could be why and you don't need to have the [00:04:00] symptoms. You don't need to have the UTIs and the bacterial vaginosis. You can have some of those outcomes.

So it's extremely important to take your health in your own hands, be your own advocate. If they won't do the test, you gotta work with a team that understands this piece. It's not about you spending more money on IVF with not uncovering all these pieces. And I can't tell you the number of people that we see that ureaplasma was not caught by their REI doctor.

We do the testing and they have it because they didn't have any symptoms. That could be why all the failed things didn't work out beforehand. Some key parameters to consider. So if you're trying for more than 12 months without pregnancy success, you've had two or more failed IVF transfers.

You've had recurrent pregnancy loss, especially two after fetal heartache confirmation. You've got chronic vaginal or urinary symptoms. We see this so much, right? Something's going on with your body, but you're like, wait a minute, is it tied in? Yes. If your whole body is tied in and anything going on in your body from the acne on your face to the digestive symptoms all impact your egg quality.

And then if you had a partner [00:05:00] with a history of genital infections or abnormal or abnormal semen analysis we've gotta dig into this 'cause we got to look at it for both of you. Testing is key. From a conventional side of things, they're going to do a vaginal or a cervical swab.

So a PCR if symptomatic. Many times you're not symptomatic and the functional approach. So we'll do a vaginal swab. We like Juno Bio, so it's a microbiome panel . We do the gut microbiome first. Then we do the vaginal microbiome. So we work on the gut microbiome that cleans up the vaginal microbiome.

We don't just do the vaginal microbiome and we got a whole parasite and bacterial infection. We chase this thing around a circle. So it's a multifactorial approach, but in a short period of time, you can make massive change with your health. From a conventional standpoint, it's it's often dismissed.

They don't even look at this. Whereas we look at it as it's viewed as an opportunistic pathogen that can disrupt the endometrium, the cervix, and the microbiome. If they find it, you may do a single antibiotic.

We can do some biofilm disruptors, see what's underneath. Again, we do the gut microbiome and the vaginal microbiome. Sometimes we can do [00:06:00] antimicrobial, so it would be for each person, it's gonna be different. The partner in conventional medicine is not always tested or treated and the functional side of things and Fab Fertile Method, it's always tested and treated simultaneously.

Otherwise, you just chase this thing around a circle. It's based on symptom resolution here is based on the vaginal ecosystem and inflammation resolution. We are going to be retesting this to make sure that things are gone. So it may be silent or present if there's recurrent implantation failure, early pregnancy loss.

You've got that chronic BV, yeast or UTIs vaginal irritation or discharge, pain with intercourse. Subclinical inflammation. So you've got that elevated ANA or CRP. So some studies here to talk about ureaplasma was significantly more prevalent in patients with failed IVF transfers 42% than those that achieved live birth.

So ureaplasma was present in 16.5% of miscarriage cases versus 17.3% of ongoing pregnancies. A natural [00:07:00] conception study in 2023, elevated ureaplasma in the endometrium was linked to miscarriage, even when embryos were chromosomally. Male partners with ureaplasma have poor semen parameters, but clearing the infection improved overall fertility chances.

So you want to do this before, so I've talked about this a lot. You gotta do this before you go run into IVF. So before retrieval infection can elevate the cytokines impacting the ovarian environment, leading to poor quality eggs. You got to work on your health beforehand, before the transfer.

So we want to make the endometrium more receptive so the ureplasma it's related with inflammation that can prevent implantation. Even when you have those beautiful embryos, they're there, but you've got inflammation. The host you is not ready. You and your partner. We look at the seminal microbiome too.

because you're having intercourse and have this embryo. He's fine. He doesn't need to work on his health. If he's had an infection that's causing inflammation after intercourse, and that could be why the embryo's not making it. It is to be able to address these things and giving a [00:08:00] protocol.

Like we said, talked about the gut microbiome and the vaginal microbiome, we got to look at the mineral imbalance. And then looking at all those markers. So your vitamin D, your high sensitivity, C reactive protein, your homocysteine, your ANA levels, like all that is elevated.

There's inflammation. That could be why implantation failure transfer, not working. Pregnancy loss. This stuff is heartbreaking. All right, I just went through a whole bunch of clinical stuff, but we've got to look at the mindset. Get support on this. Have someone guide you through it, right? I see it over and over again where people have spent tens of thousands of dollars, but

just because your doctor's not gonna know this for the next 20 years, because they say the research is not out now, and they don't want to look for it. The research is here now. They're just following an old script and they're using medication and surgeries. So we need to arm ourselves with education.

If they don't wanna listen, get a new doctor. Too bad. You're hiring them. And so sometimes the antibiotics alone can fail because of the biofilm shedding, and then there's more [00:09:00] dysbiosis underneath. When we do a retest, we've got to repair and rebuild the vaginal microbiome, get all the good bacteria in there.

So you wanna prevent a recurrence and support a receptive uterine lining. Basically, everything we're doing is lowering inflammation. Definitely check out the episode I did all on inflammation and supporting your immune system. So we've had many people who have had failed IVFs and found out they had Ureaplasma and addressed that and went on to have successful transfers.

So it's being able to take your health into your own hands here and work on the health of the vaginal microbiome and not just keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. We need to dig deeper and be your own advocate, which is a good thing. There are things you can do.

Just be careful if you feel like you want to do it all in a big, crazy rush. Each day we make small changes. We look at your diet, address gut infections. Do this in a personalized manner using genetic testing as part of our Fab Fertile Method. Then we look at the [00:10:00] gut microbiome, we can bring in the hair tissue mineral analysis, looking at your nutrient levels, looking at your adrenals, supporting you.

It's not just all about baby making. We have love making, really enjoying our partner. And then looking at his health too. Addressing the ureaplasma with him. So first we got to know what's there and because we're just told, sorry, bad luck. It didn't work and you're devastated.

It was your last embryo. And this was missed. If you're here, there's a reason. So there's things you can do. So it's key to go beyond just clearing the infection. You've got to rebuild the microbiome, optimize the vaginal microbiome. I've done many episodes of the vaginal microbiome, so we have a successful retrievable transfer or natural pregnancy.

So if you wanna get my eyes on your specific situation, send me a message at hello@fabfertile.ca, subject line FERTILE, and we can talk about options to help. Take care

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How to Get Started With Functional Fertility Support

Book your call here to get your personalized plan and options to help improve pregnancy success either naturally or with IVF treatment. 

Check out our Fab Fertile functional fertility program here and learn how to improve AMH levels naturally.  We work with couples that have low AMH, high FSH, diminished ovarian reserve, premature ovarian insufficiency, and recurrent pregnancy loss.

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FAQs: Ureaplasma, Egg Quality, Low AMH, and Recurrent Miscarriage – What You Need to Know

Q. What is Ureaplasma, and why is it important for fertility?

A. Ureaplasma is a type of bacteria that can live in the reproductive tract. It’s often asymptomatic but may impact egg quality, implantation, and pregnancy success, especially with low AMH, DOR, or unexplained infertility.

Q. Can I have Ureaplasma without symptoms?

A. Yes. Many people have no symptoms, which is why it’s frequently missed, despite being a possible reason for failed IVF or early miscarriage.

Q. Should my partner be tested too?

A. Absolutely. Ureaplasma can affect semen quality, and partners can pass it back and forth. Testing both partners helps improve outcomes.

Q. What testing do you recommend for Ureaplasma?

A. We recommend functional vaginal and seminal microbiome testing, such as Juno Bio, alongside gut testing to assess the full picture.

Q. Is Ureaplasma something my Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility Specialist (REI) or fertility clinic would check?

A. Often not. Conventional clinics may only test if you have symptoms, and many don’t include it in standard panels unless requested.

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RESOURCES

Before Your IVF Transfer, Test This First

IVF Prep with Low AMH: Boosting Your Chances for Success

Causes of Miscarriage Before 12 Weeks: What Most Doctors Miss

What You Need To Know About Chronic Infections And Infertility

Our favorite fertility tracker Inito (use code FABFERTILE15 to save 15)