A woman in the UK underwent the first-ever womb transplant performed by doctors, giving her the chance to become pregnant. The living womb donation came from the woman’s sister.
According to the medical team behind this groundbreaking operation, the 34-year-old was “extremely happy” and “over the moon” with the outcome of the nine-hour procedure. These days, she intends to use IVF to have two children. Due to an uncommon birth defect, the married woman’s first womb hadn’t fully developed when she was born. Her 40-year-old sister, who had two children of her own, provided her with a donor womb.
Internationally, over 90 womb transplants have been performed, the majority of which involved living donors. These countries include Sweden, the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Germany, Serbia, and India. As a result, about 50 births have occurred. Co-leading surgeon Isabel Quiroga, a consultant surgeon at Oxford Transplant Centre, an institution affiliated with Oxford University hospitals, expressed her joy and immense pride in the success of the procedure. The physician characterized the patient as being “tremendously pleased.” Additionally, the doctor mentioned that the woman was “thoroughly ecstatic, exceedingly joyful, and optimistic about the possibility of having two children, not just one.” Her reproductive system is working well, and we are carefully observing her advancement.
This autumn, a second womb transplant is planned in the UK for a different woman, with more patients undergoing the same process. Ten surgeries using brain-dead donors and an additional five utilizing living donors have received approval from the surgeons. The recipient, hailing from England and requesting anonymity, underwent surgery to receive her sister’s uterus at Churchill Hospital in Oxford in February. After nine hours and twenty minutes, she was in good enough condition to be discharged from the hospital after ten days. The procedure was a “huge success,” according to Prof. Richard Smith, co-lead surgeon, clinical head at the nonprofit Womb Transplant UK, and consultant gynecological surgeon at Imperial College London.
He remarked, “It was amazing. In my view, the past week presented the toughest challenges I’ve encountered in my surgical career, but it was also remarkably fulfilling. It’s safe to say that both the donor and the recipient are ecstatic. The entire experience makes me emotional. We were all on the verge of tears during the first postoperative consultation with the patient. ‘I’m just extremely glad that we have a donor who, after her major operation, is completely back to normal, and the recipient is, after her major operation, doing really well on her immunosuppressive medicine and looking forward to the possibility of having a child,’ the donor said.
A rare condition known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH), affecting one in every 5,000 women, was present at birth in the woman who would receive the womb. Women with MRKH have undeveloped vaginas and underdeveloped or absent wombs. The cessation of periods during the teenage years is the first indicator of the disorder. They can conceive through fertility treatment since their ovaries remain functional and produce eggs and female hormones. The woman underwent two cycles of fertility stimulation to develop eggs before receiving her sister’s womb and then underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to create embryos.
The removal of the older sister’s womb, which took eight hours and twelve minutes, was the first step of the day’s surgery, involving more than 30 staff members. Surgeons began operating on the younger sister an hour before the womb was removed.
The sisters received extensive counseling before surgery and were assessed by gynecologists, transplant surgeons, obstetricians, psychologists, anesthetists, and pharmacists. They were also evaluated by an impartial assessor from the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) to ensure their understanding of the risks and their voluntary consent to the procedure. Approval was granted following a review of the case by an HTA panel before proceeding. Donations to Womb Transplant UK covered the $25,000 transplant cost.
- Misleading Video Alters Prime Minister Shehbaz’s Speech Targeting Political Rival, Not His Party - 21/04/2024
- ATC Grants Three-Day Remand for Suspects in Ichhra Bazaar Harassment Case - 19/03/2024
- Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh Lead World in Severe Smog Crisis, Exceeding WHO Guidelines - 19/03/2024
