This is Unexpected! Probiotics for Infertility.

10-14% of couples worldwide experience infertility. 15-25% of them have infertility that is unexplained. Help may come from a very surprising place.

Previous research has suggested the possibility that female infertility could be associated with microbiota in the genital tract. That has led to consideration of the possibility that probiotics might help. Preliminary research has given cause for hope.

This new, double-blind study put the hope to the scientific test. 57 couples with unexplained infertility who were about to undergo IVF were given either a placebo or the probiotic L. salivarius. The probiotic was given to both the male and the female who took it for 6 months prior to IVF and during the first IVF cycle.

Significantly more couples in the probiotic group had a successful pregnancy that resulted in a live baby without birth defects with 48% in the probiotic group versus 20% in the placebo group.

This study introduces the hope that oral supplementation of probiotics, specifically L. salivarius, taken by both partners can significantly increase the rate of successful pregnancy for couples frustrated by unexplained infertility.

Nutrients. 2025 May 29;17(11):1860.

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