Ureteral stents include a tubular body defining a lumen and have a distal kidney section, a proximal bladder section, and a ureter section between the distal and proximal sections. The tubular body has a first material layer and a stiffening member that extends through at least a portion of a length of the tubular body. The stiffening member has a stiffness characteristic that varies along its length. This enables different portions of the stent to have different stiffness characteristics that preferably are optimized for the location of those portions within the human body. The stiffening member may be at least a second material layer having a second stiffness that is different from a first stiffness of the first material layer, and/or at least one strand of material that is embedded within the first material layer.