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A medical first
In a medical first, a Swedish woman who had gotten a womb transplant gave birth to a healthy baby, her doctor said Friday.
“The baby is fantastic,” said Dr. Mats Brannstrom of the University of Gothenburg and Stockholm, who led the research and delivered the baby boy with the help of his wife, a midwife.
“But it is even better to see the joy in the parents and how happy he made them,” Brannstrom said.
The 36-year-old miracle mom received a uterus from a close family friend last year.
Her baby was born prematurely but healthy last month, and the unidentified mother and child are now at home.
Brannstrom, meanwhile, said it was “still sinking in that we have actually done it.”
The feat offers a new, but still experimental, alternative for some of the thousands of women each year who are unable to conceive children because they either lost a uterus to cancer or were born without one.
Before this case proved the concept could work, some experts had questioned whether a transplanted womb would be able to nourish a fetus.
For the proud parents, the years of research and experimentation were well worth the wait.
“It was a pretty tough journey over the years, but we now have the most amazing baby,” the dad said.
He said he and his wife, both competitive athletes, were convinced the procedure would work.
Brannstrom and colleagues transplanted wombs into nine women over the last two years as part of a study, but complications forced removal of two of the organs.
Earlier this year, Brannstrom began transferring embryos into the seven other women. He said there are two other pregnancies at least 25 weeks along.
Before these cases, there had been two attempts to transplant a womb, but no live births resulted.
Doctors in Britain, France, Japan, Turkey and elsewhere are planning to try similar operations, but using wombs from women who have just died rather than live donors.
The Swedish woman had healthy ovaries, but she was born without a uterus — a syndrome seen in one girl in 4,500.
She received a uterus from a 61-year-old family friend who had gone through menopause after giving birth to two children.
Brannstrom said he was surprised such an old uterus was so successful, but that the most important factor seemed to be that the womb was healthy.
Brannstrom said he was concerned he might have hurt the womb during the C-section and said they would have to wait a couple of months before knowing if the mother would be able to keep the uterus for a second pregnancy.
“We will definitely think about that,” the father said. “But right now, we’re very happy with just one baby.”
Baby's picture with article:
“The baby is fantastic,” said Dr. Mats Brannstrom of the University of Gothenburg and Stockholm, who led the research and delivered the baby boy with the help of his wife, a midwife.
“But it is even better to see the joy in the parents and how happy he made them,” Brannstrom said.
The 36-year-old miracle mom received a uterus from a close family friend last year.
Her baby was born prematurely but healthy last month, and the unidentified mother and child are now at home.
Brannstrom, meanwhile, said it was “still sinking in that we have actually done it.”
The feat offers a new, but still experimental, alternative for some of the thousands of women each year who are unable to conceive children because they either lost a uterus to cancer or were born without one.
Before this case proved the concept could work, some experts had questioned whether a transplanted womb would be able to nourish a fetus.
For the proud parents, the years of research and experimentation were well worth the wait.
“It was a pretty tough journey over the years, but we now have the most amazing baby,” the dad said.
He said he and his wife, both competitive athletes, were convinced the procedure would work.
Brannstrom and colleagues transplanted wombs into nine women over the last two years as part of a study, but complications forced removal of two of the organs.
Earlier this year, Brannstrom began transferring embryos into the seven other women. He said there are two other pregnancies at least 25 weeks along.
Before these cases, there had been two attempts to transplant a womb, but no live births resulted.
Doctors in Britain, France, Japan, Turkey and elsewhere are planning to try similar operations, but using wombs from women who have just died rather than live donors.
The Swedish woman had healthy ovaries, but she was born without a uterus — a syndrome seen in one girl in 4,500.
She received a uterus from a 61-year-old family friend who had gone through menopause after giving birth to two children.
Brannstrom said he was surprised such an old uterus was so successful, but that the most important factor seemed to be that the womb was healthy.
Brannstrom said he was concerned he might have hurt the womb during the C-section and said they would have to wait a couple of months before knowing if the mother would be able to keep the uterus for a second pregnancy.
“We will definitely think about that,” the father said. “But right now, we’re very happy with just one baby.”
Baby's picture with article:
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