UK’s first womb transplant raises fertility hope for women

The United Kingdom’s first womb transplant is heralding a “new era” for those wanting to become pregnant following the country’s first successful womb transplant.

Six months ago, a 40-year-old mother of two donated her uterus to her 34-year-old sister, who had been born without one, according to a report yesterday.

Now, the recipient of the uterus is having periods and making plans for a family of her own via in vitro fertilisation.

Professor Richard Smith called the process a “massive success,” the report noted.

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“We were all in tears,” he said, recalling meeting with the sisters following the operation. “It was very, very emotional … I think it was probably the most stressful week of our surgical careers, but also unbelievably positive.”

“The donor and recipient are just over the moon.”

Conducted in February at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital, a staff of over 30 people worked over eight hours to extract the donor’s womb, and a further nine hours and 20 minutes was required to complete the operation, the report noted.

Womb Transplant UK covered the £25,000 or $31,693.50 cost of the procedure, and the surgeons and medical staff appeared to volunteer their time.

“I’m just really happy that we’ve got a donor, who is completely back to normal after her big op, and the recipient is … doing really well on her immunosuppressive therapy and looking forward to hopefully having a baby,” Smith said.

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The recipient will have her sister’s womb for up to five years before it will be taken out, according to the report.

It’s “a remarkable achievement,” Chairman of the British Fertility Society Raj Mathur said.

“I think it’s the dawn of a new age, a new era in treating these patients,” Mathur said. “You have got to remember some of these patients are the most difficult fertility situations that you can imagine … they are either born without a uterus or they have lost the uterus for reasons of cancer or other problems, for instance in (labour).”

“Up until now, we have really not had any way of helping them other than surrogacy.”

The United Kingdom’s first successful womb transplant comes in the wake of the American Medical Association floating a trial balloon for uterus transplants for transgender women.