Now, Women Can Have Babies Through Womb Transplant!

… one recipient delivers, seven others pregnant in Sweden

One woman without a womb has successfully given birth to a baby after undergoing womb transplant. The report published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, says the baby was born healthy but prematurely, weighing 1.8kg (3.9lb). Although there have been records of organ transplants such as kidney transplant, heart and liver transplant, this will be the first time that a womb will be successfully transplanted and a baby delivered through it. This medical milestone has raised new hope for thousands of women who either through cancer treatment or birth defect, are born without womb.

According to the report, the womb recipient, a 36-year-old Swedish woman has absolute uterine factor infertility, a type of female infertility still considered to be untreatable.

Adoption and surrogacy have so far been the only options for women with absolute uterine
factor infertility who wants to become mothers. The Swedish woman received her womb from a 61-year-old family friend. Because she had intact ovaries, she was able to produce eggs, which were then fertilized, using IVF prior to the transplant.

The researchers who performed the operation, from the University of Gothenburg Sweden, have been investigating the viability of womb transplantation for over 10 years. Before attempting the procedure in humans, the researchers said they had conducted trials in rodents and non-human primates. Afterward, the researchers said they initiated transplants in nine women with absolute uterine factor infertility, who had received wombs from live donors. The Swedish woman who recently gave birth was one of these women. The Eggs were fertilised using IVF, prior to the mother receiving womb transplant. A total of 11 embryos were produced and frozen using this method. One year after the womb transplant, one of these embryos was transferred to the transplanted womb.

As a consequence of preeclampsia, the woman was admitted to hospital at 31 weeks and her baby was delivered by caesarean section 16 hours later. Although an abnormal foetal heart rate had been detected when the woman was admitted to the hospital, in the days after being born, the baby scored as being in perfect health, according to the Apgar rating scale for determining the health of newborns.

The infant was discharged from the neonatal unit after 10 days and the researchers say that both mom and baby are still doing well.

Source: nationalmirroronline.net