In Britain’s first womb transplant, a sister successfully donated to her childless sibling.
The procedure represents a major breakthrough for thousands of British women who otherwise might not be able to give birth.
The 40-year-old donor, who already has two children, made the selfless gift to her younger sister who wants to start a family with her husband, but was born without a uterus due to a medical condition.
The complicated operation to remove the donor’s uterus and implant it into her sister involved two teams and eight surgeons working in adjacent operating rooms and took more than 17 hours in total.
Although the surgery took longer than planned, it went well and the implanted uterus is “fully functional,” according to the surgeons involved.
The 34-year-old married woman received the womb — also known as the womb — from her 40-year-old sister, who made the selfless gift to her younger sibling
The operation took place at Churchill Hospital in Oxford. The recipient, who lives in England and declined to be named, is said to be “over the moon” about the turn of events and is “very, very excited” at the prospect of starting a family
The 34-year-old who received the uterus is reportedly “over the moon” with how things have turned out and is “very, very excited” at the prospect of starting a family and has told her doctors: “I want so badly as many children as I can’.
Although the recipient was born without a uterus, she does have ovaries and produced her own eggs that were previously harvested and fertilized using IVF.
It is now hoped that she will have one of her five embryos, which have been frozen in storage, implanted at a fertility clinic in London next autumn.
One of the surgeons who led the transplant told the Mail she has an “over 80 percent” chance of a successful pregnancy.
Each resulting baby would be delivered via cesarean section at 37 weeks to relieve pressure on the donated uterus — and the mother would then have the choice of keeping the uterus for another pregnancy or having it removed.
Professor Richard Smith, a gynecological surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, who was one of two lead surgeons for the groundbreaking operation, said there were emotional scenes when the medical team met the woman and her family shortly after she left hospital had been fired. ten days after the transplant operation.
Her sister went home five days early.
“We were all in tears,” he said.
The surgical medical team was ‘in tears’ after the successful operation, which represents a huge breakthrough for thousands of British women who might otherwise not be able to give birth
“It was emotional for all the medical staff and for her and her entire family — it was a huge deal to all of us.”
He says she has a very good chance of a healthy pregnancy.
The surgeries took place in February at Churchill Hospital, part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, but are shrouded in secrecy – partly because the recipient, who lives in England, wishes to remain anonymous and partly because the team, made up of five several hospitals wanted time to make sure the surgery was a success.
It has only now become widely known as details are published in the medical journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The breakthrough could potentially benefit thousands of women in Britain. One in 5,000 women is born without a viable uterus due to conditions such as Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH), which the recipient of this transplant has, a reproductive system disorder that affects women, meaning that they are born without a uterus.
Many other women have to have their uterus removed because of conditions such as endometriosis or cancer.
Until now, women without a uterus who wanted to start a family have been faced with using a surrogate mother or having to travel abroad for a uterus transplant, although this was not really a viable option.
The first uterine transplant was performed in Saudi Arabia in 2000, but complications forced the removal of the womb after three months.
The complicated operation to remove the donor’s uterus and implant it into her sister involved two teams and eight surgeons working in adjacent operating rooms.
In September 2014, a Swedish woman, Malin Stenberg, became the first person in the world to give birth following a uterus transplant after a 61-year-old family friend donated her uterus.
Since then, about 100 transplants have been performed worldwide in women from other countries, resulting in the birth of about 50 healthy babies.
The successful operation in Great Britain is a huge breakthrough.
It could have happened sooner, but red tape – “the regulatory process takes a very long time,” says Ms. Isabel Quiroga, a transplant surgeon and co-leader of the team that performed the operations – and funding have been a problem.
The Womb Transplant UK charity funded the operation through donations and fundraising charity events, including cake sales.
Each operation costs around £25,000, although all surgeons and doctors involved in the operation and planning have volunteered their time for free.
The team was ready to move forward with a living donor in March 2020, but the pandemic hit.
They now have approval from the various regulatory agencies, including The Human Tissue Authority, for two programs: one involving five women who will receive wombs from living donors and another involving 10 patients who do not have suitable living donors and will therefore receive donated wombs. search among deceased donors.
Chief Surgeons Isabel Quigora and Richard Smith. Prof Smith said ‘it was emotional for all the medical staff and for her and all her family – it was a huge problem for all of us’
Womb Transplant UK has heard from 500 women that they would like to participate in the programme.
They say they have about a dozen potential patients who already have preserved embryos or who are undergoing IVF and may eventually become patients – one of whom has lost her uterus to uterine cancer.
They have so far raised £200,000 to cover costs, but are still £300,000 short to fund the research programme.
For now, they will make use of what resources they have and Professor Smith says the team will be on standby to carry out the next transplant once everyone involved is back from their summer holidays.
“I think it’s very important that we can offer this as a possible service within Britain,” he said.
“We know that patients are going to America – because they don’t have access here – but to do that they have to move, which is a very big undertaking and for me it’s very important to me that it’s available to women in Britain . ‘
Only those eligible for NHS care, who live in the UK and are between 24 and 40 years old (or 42 years old if their embryos were kept in ice before the age of 38) can be patients for one of the two programs are considered.
Those who are accepted will need detailed physical and psychological assessments and will be made aware of the risks.
The failure rate of uterine transplants is higher than other life-saving transplants; for example, about a quarter of all uterine transplants fail, compared to only one percent for kidney transplants.
About 20 percent fail in a living donor and 28 percent fail in dead donors, according to a review of cases published earlier this year in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, something the Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan “a crucial concern’.