World's First Baby Born Out of Transplanted Womb

The birth of the world’s first baby from a transplanted womb of a deceased donor in Brazil, finally is made possible. In the first successful case of its kind, a baby girl is born. The case is published in The Lancet medical journal, which involved connecting the veins from the donor’s uterus with the recipient’s veins. The womb transplant also includes linking of arteries, ligaments and vaginal canals.

According to Dr. Dani Ejzenberg, associated with Brazil’s Sao Paulo University hospital, who also led the research says the transplant was carried out in September 2016 when the recipient was 32 years old. She also says, the technique of transplant is feasible and now it could offer women with uterine infertility, with access to a large pool of potential donors.

The current norm for receiving a womb transplant is that the organ would come from a live family member willing to donate it. Dr. Dani Ejzenberg said in a statement, “The numbers of people willing and committed to donate organs upon their own deaths are far larger than those of live donors, offering a much wider potential donor population”. She also added, that the outcomes and effects of womb donations from live and deceased donors have not yet been compared and the technique could still be refined and optimized.

The first baby born out of a womb from a live donor was in Sweden in the year 2013. Scientists so far have reported nearly 40 procedures of this kind have been conducted resulting in the 11 live births. According to an estimate, infertility affects around 10 to 15 percent of couples of reproductive age across the world. Of this, around one in 500 women also have uterine problems. The options available to have a child were adoption or surrogacy. Now with uterus transplants, the scope of having a child has also increased.

In the present case, the recipient has given birth without a uterus due to a natural condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome. The donor was 45 years old and has died of a stroke. As Dr. Dani Ejzenberg and her team write, five months after the transplant, the uterus showed no signs of rejection, ultrasound scans were found normal and the recipient was having regular menstruation. The woman’s previously fertilized and frozen eggs were implanted after seven months and 10 days later she was confirmed, pregnant. The baby girl is born to the Brazilian mother, who was delivered through caesarean section after 35 weeks and three days. The baby weighs 2,550 grams.

The successful transplant and delivery of the baby, comes after 10 known cases of uterus transplants from deceased donors, in United States, Czech Republic and Turkey, but have failed to produce a live birth.