UK’s first womb transplant hailed ‘massive success’ as woman donates womb to younger sister in 'remarkable' first
23 August 2023, 06:36 | Updated: 23 August 2023, 08:12
A woman has successfully received the UK's first ever womb transplant in a 'remarkable' step for women with reproductive disorders.
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The woman, 34, received the womb from her 40-year-old sister - both live in England but wish to remain anonymous.
The transplant was successfully carried out in an operation of nine hours and 20 minutes at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.
Both are “over the moon” following the successful operation, as it could allow the donor’s younger sister to start a family.
The woman who donated her womb already has two children and offered it to her sister, who now plans to undergo IVF later this year with embryos she and her husband stored.
In 2014 a woman in Sweden became the first person to have a baby as a result of a womb transplant after receiving a donation from a friend in her 60s.
A total of 100 womb transplants have taken place worldwide and around 50 babies have been born in the world as a result of them, mostly in the US and Sweden but also in other countries.
Professor Richard Smith, who led the organ retrieval team, said: “It was incredible. I think it was probably the most stressful week in my surgical career but also unbelievably positive.
“The donor and recipient are over the moon, just over the moon.
“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, after her big op, doing really well on her immunosuppressive therapy and looking forward to hopefully having a baby.”
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He also described the operation as “quite remarkable” and a “massive success”.
More than 30 members of staff were involved in the whole operation.
The woman who received the transplant had her first period two weeks after the surgery.
She is taking immunosuppressive drugs to prevent tissue rejection but as these carry long-term health risks the uterus must be removed after a maximum of two pregnancies.
The operation provides hope to women with reproduction disorders or issues, as the woman who received the transplant was born with a rare condition known as Type 1 Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome.
Affecting around one in every 5,000 women, the condition means being born with an absent or underdeveloped uterus but functioning ovaries.
The two sisters received counselling before the surgery and their case was reviewed and approved by the Human Tissue Authority.
Charity Womb Transplant UK paid for the NHS costs, estimated to total around £25,000.
Senior NHS Consultant: UK's first womb transplant is 'a highly significant achievement'
Prof Smith said: “The shocking truth is that there are currently more than 15,000 women of child-bearing age in this country who have Absolute Uterine Factor Infertility. They were either born without a womb or have had a hysterectomy due to cancer or other abnormalities of the womb.”
Transplant surgeon Isabel Quiroga said she was “extremely proud of what we’ve achieved”.
Speaking of the patient who received the womb she added: “She was absolutely over the moon, very happy and is hoping that she can go on to have not one but two babies.
“Her womb is functioning perfectly and we are monitoring her progress very closely.”
The team is also hopeful that living donors who are not family members will donate their wombs in the future.
Ms Quiroga continued: “We have women contacting the charity… such as young women who say ‘I don’t want to have children but I would love to help others have a child’ or’ I’ve already had my children I would love other women to have that experience’.
“So yes, there will definitely be a time in which that is a main source of donors.”
Prof Smith said he expects a maximum of 20 to 30 people per year could benefit from womb transplants in the foreseeable future.
