Doctors in the United Kingdom have made medical history, carrying out the country’s first womb transplant.
In an operation that lasted nine hours and twenty minutes on Sunday, doctors at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital successfully transplanted a sister’s womb to her 34-year-old sibling.
Over eight hours were invested in the procedure to remove the donor’s womb.
“It was incredible. I think it was probably the most stressful week in my surgical career but also unbelievably positive,” Richard Smith, the lead surgeon for the operation, told the UK’s Press Association.
“The donor and recipient are over the moon, just over the moon.”
The the recipient of the womb was found to have the rare condition Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH), which affects women’s reproductive systems.
She stored her embryos with the intention of using in vitro fertilization (IVF) later this year in order to conceive.
However, her 40-year-old sister was willing to donate her uterus after having her own two children, which made a womb transplant procedure possible.
The recipient’s “womb was functioning perfectly,” according to Isabel Quiroga, the other lead surgeon engaged in the procedure.
According to the Press Association report, the recipient will need to take immunosuppressant medications during this time to make sure she does not reject the implant. The transplant is anticipated to last for a maximum of five years before the womb is removed.
The woman can now become pregnant, according to Smith.
“Hopefully that embryo will take, and hopefully nine months later she’ll [have a] Caesarean section,” he said.
“Once she’s had a Caesarean section, she does have a choice – six months later – of a complete hysterectomy or to go and have another baby,” he added.
According to Kate Brintworth, chief midwifery officer for NHS England, “On behalf of the whole health service, I would like to send my best wishes for a speedy recovery to the donor and recipient on what is an amazing milestone.”
In the past, womb transplants have been performed in Sweden and the United States, among other countries.
In order to aid other women, more women are contacting the charity Womb Transplant UK, according to Quiroga.
“So yes, there will definitely be a time in which that is a main source of donors,” she said.
A second womb transplant is scheduled to take place in the coming months in the UK.
Source-Aljazeera
