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Doctors at Cleveland Clinic have reported the first successful birth in the US of a baby from the transplanted uterus of a deceased donor.
“It was amazing how perfectly normal this delivery was, considering how extraordinary the occasion,” transplant surgeon Dr Andreas Tzakis said, adding “We are grateful to the donor. Their generosity allowed our patient’s dream to come true and a new baby to be born.”
He explained how it is through this research, that they “aim to make these extraordinary events ordinary for the women who choose this option.”
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Even more extraordinarily, the baby girl was born 'en caul', which means she was delivered with amniotic sac intact. This spontaneous event is very rare.
Doctors transplanted the womb into the mother in late 2017, and she later became pregnant thanks to in vitro fertilization. She is one of ten women involved in a pioneering trial that seeks to solve uterine factor infertility with donor transplants.
Mom and baby are both healthy and doing well.
Watch the incredible delivery below:
Not intended to be life-saving
The transplant of a uterus is not intended to be life-saving, but is instead classified as ‘life-enhancing’. It is meant to last for one or two live births, after which it is removed via hysterectomy.
Currently, the norm in the US is that a womb for transplant must come from a live family member willing to donate it. In the case of a deceased donor, the next of kin must sign an informed consent.
Since more people are willing to donate their organs upon their death, this success would mean a wider pool of potential donors is made available.
In 2017, in what doctors called a medical milestone, a Brazilian woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl as a result of a successful pregnancy after she received a womb transplanted from a dead donor.
15 healthy babies have been born following live uterus transplants, 9 in Sweden alone.
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