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Why Your BV Keeps Coming Back: Could Your Partner’s Microbiome Be the Missing Link?
By Denisa Kim, Founder Anteros Bio
If you have been treated for bacterial vaginosis more than once, you’re not alone and you’re not doing anything wrong. BV is the most common vaginal infection worldwide, affecting an estimated 23 to 29% of women of reproductive age. Yet despite its prevalence, the standard treatment of antibiotics fails to prevent recurrence in 50 to 80% of cases within a year.
Most women are told to take the antibiotics, wait, and come back if it returns. It always returns. And almost never does anyone ask the question that may be at the heart of why.
The Problem With Treating BV in Isolation
The vaginal microbiome is a delicate ecosystem. In a healthy state, it is dominated by Lactobacillus species particularly Lactobacillus crispatus which produce lactic acid and maintain an acidic pH that protects against harmful bacterial overgrowth. When that balance is disrupted, the resulting dysbiosis creates conditions for BV.
What conventional medicine has been slow to integrate is the growing body of research showing that a partner’s genital microbiome plays a significant role in whether BV recurs. A landmark 2025 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Vodstrcil et al. found that partner reinfection is one of the primary drivers of recurring BV meaning that treating only one person leaves the cycle intact.
The partner is tested for STIs, but is rarely tested for the microbial environment that may be directly destabilizing yours.
What Microbiome Testing Actually Reveals
Traditional culture and PCR testing identifies specific pathogens—Gardnerella, Trichomonas, chlamydia—but tells you nothing about the broader microbial landscape. It is a binary result: present or absent.
The technology Anteros Bio uses and the same methodology used in leading academic microbiome research, maps the entire community of bacteria and fungi present, not just the obvious offenders. It shows you the relative abundance of protective Lactobacillus species, the presence of anaerobic bacteria associated with dysbiosis, and the fungal species that standard swabs miss entirely.
More importantly, when both partners are tested simultaneously, patterns emerge that a single test can never reveal. Shared microbial signatures. Complementary or competing bacterial communities. The kind of data that transforms a recurring health problem into a solvable equation.
How At-Home Testing Changes the Conversation
Anteros Bio offers the only at-home genital microbiome test designed specifically for couples. Both partners collect a sample independently using a simple swab kit sent directly to their door. Samples are processed at a CLIA/CAP/CLEP-certified laboratory using advanced sequencing. Results are delivered through a secure patient portal within approximately 10 business days, with clear, actionable reporting contextualized against established community state types.
There is no clinic visit required. No awkward conversation to initiate with a doctor who may not be familiar with microbiome testing. No waiting to be sick enough to justify the test. The process is designed to be taken proactively before the next recurrence, not after it.
The Couples Kit is not a test. It is a mirror. It shows you both what is actually happening and gives you both a place to start.
For women who have spent years cycling through antibiotics, probiotics, and frustration, the act of testing together can itself be transformative. It shifts the framing from “her problem” to “our health.”
What the Research Is Telling Us About Fertility and the Microbiome
The connection between vaginal microbiome health and reproductive outcomes is one of the most rapidly growing areas of women’s health research. Studies are consistently showing that microbiome composition at the time of embryo transfer is predictive of IVF success rates, with Lactobacillus crispatus dominance associated with significantly higher implantation and clinical pregnancy rates.
For women who are trying to conceive whether naturally or through assisted reproduction, understanding the state of their vaginal microbiome before conception is not a luxury. It is increasingly recognized as a meaningful clinical variable that their reproductive endocrinologist may not yet be routinely testing for.
Anteros Bio’s platform is designed to provide that information accessibly, privately, and with the scientific rigor that clinical decision-making requires.
For Pelvic Health Practitioners: A Note on Clinical Partnerships
If you work with patients who experience recurrent BV, dysbiosis, or unexplained pelvic symptoms, Anteros Bio offers a clinical referral program that requires no inventory and no workflow disruption. Partnered practitioners receive a unique referral link and earn commission on every kit their patients purchase. Clinic partners are also provided with printed patient handout materials to use in practice.
We are actively building our clinical partner network and would welcome a conversation with integrative practitioners, pelvic health specialists, OB-GYNs, naturopathic doctors, and functional medicine providers who share the belief that treating the whole picture—including the partner—is the right standard of care.
The Cycle Can Be Broken
Recurring BV is not inevitable. It is not a character flaw or a hygiene failure or evidence that your body is simply prone to infection. In many cases, it is the predictable result of treating one half of a shared biological system.
Both the science and technology exist to do better. Anteros Bio exists because women living with this problem deserve answers that go the full distance, not just halfway there.
If you or your patients are ready to finally understand what is actually happening, the test is now available.
Want to know if Anteros Bio is right for you?
Take the quiz here.
References
1. Muzny CA et al. Bacterial vaginosis: approaches to treatment and prevention. Front Reprod Health. 2023. doi:10.3389/frph.2023.1100029
2. Moll W & Swidsinski A. Bacterial Vaginosis — Polymicrobial Biofilms and Dysbiosis. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2023;120(20):347-354.
3. Vodstrcil LA et al. Male-Partner Treatment to Prevent Recurrence of Bacterial Vaginosis. N Engl J Med. 2025;392(10):947-957.
4. Hariton E et al. Vaginal microbiome and IVF outcomes. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2025.
