World’s First Baby Born After Womb Transplant From Dead Donor

A woman in Brazil successfully gave birth to a baby girl after receiving a womb from a dead donor. This procedure has been successful for the very first time, thus making the baby girl world's first baby via a womb transplant from a dead donor.

This comes after ten previously known cases of uterus transplants from deceased donors failed to produce a live birth.

Previously, uterus transplants in the United States, the Czech Republic and Turkey have proved to be unsuccessful. The Lancet medical journal published this historic case. The case involved connecting veins from the donor uterus with the recipient’s veins. The procedure also involved linking arteries, ligaments and vaginal canals.

The girl was delivered via caesarean section at 35 weeks and three days. She weighed 2,550 grams (nearly 6 lbs), the case study said. The transplant was carried out in September 2016 when the recipient was 32. Dani Ejzenberg, a doctor at Brazil’s Sao Paulo University Hospital who led the research, said the transplant shows the technique is feasible and "could offer women with uterine infertility access to a larger pool of potential donors."

The current rule for receiving a womb transplant is that the organ must come from a living family member willing to donate it.

“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,” Ejzenberg said.

Ejzenberg also added that they are yet to compare outcomes and effects of womb donations from live and deceased donors. She said there's immense scope for the technique to be refined and optimised.

It's estimated that infertility affects around 10 to 15 per cent of couples of reproductive age worldwide.

It's evaluated that out of this group affected by infertility, around one in 500 women have uterine problems.

Talking about live births, the first baby born after a live donor womb transplant was in Sweden in 2013. So far, scientists have reported a total of 39 procedures of this kind, resulting in 11 live births.

If not for a natural birth, the only options to have a child were adoption or surrogacy before uterus transplants became possible.

Featured image credit: The Independent

Also Read: This Woman’s Fight Against Infertility Will Warm Your Heart

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