(Image: Du Cane Medical Imaging ltd/Science Photo Library)
Uterus transplants have been given the . From next year, 10 women will receive a donated uterus as part of a clinical trial, following the success of a similar trial in Sweden.
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Ethical approval for the trial was granted by the NHS 午夜福利1000集合 Research Authority, and although team leader Richard Smith is based at the Imperial College 午夜福利1000集合care Trust in London, it isn鈥檛 yet known where the transplant surgeries will take place.
Who will receive the uterus transplants?
The treatment was developed for women who want to get pregnant but don鈥檛 have a functioning uterus. Around 1 in 5000 women are born without a uterus, while others can have theirs removed for medical reasons. The UK trial will be open to women aged between 24 and 38 who are in long-term relationships and who have healthy ovaries and are able to use their own eggs. Women up to the age of 40 will also be considered if they froze their eggs before they turned 38.
How will the women with transplanted uteruses get pregnant?
Smith and his team will leave the transplanted uteruses to heal for about a year before using IVF to help the recipients get pregnant. This will involve fertilising the women鈥檚 eggs with their partner鈥檚 sperm in the lab, and then implanting the resulting embryo in the new uterus.
Are uterus transplants likely to result in pregnancy?
A team in Sweden was the first to have success with the procedure in 2013. at the University of Gothenburg and his colleagues have so far performed womb transplants in nine women. The transplanted uterus was rejected in two of the women, but four became pregnant, and the team reported their first birth in 2014.
The babies are born by C-section.
Where do the donated uteruses come from?
The Swedish team used uteruses donated by older family members. 鈥淚n five cases they were donated by the women鈥檚 mothers,鈥� says at the University of Gothenburg, who provided counselling for the women. 鈥淎ll of the donors had already given birth.鈥�
The use of an older uterus doesn鈥檛 hamper a woman鈥檚 chances of getting pregnant. The first successful pregnancy resulted from the transplant of a uterus donated by a 61-year-old. It is the age of the eggs that matters, which is why doctors are placing an age limit on trial participants.
The UK team plan to use uteruses from women who are brain dead but whose hearts are still beating.
How long will the women keep the uteruses?
While most organ transplants are for life, the donated uteruses will be removed six months after birth unless the women wish to try for a second child. As with any organ transplant, the women who receive donated uteruses will have to take a course of drugs to stop their immune systems from rejecting the new organs. 鈥淭he only reason to have a uterus is to have a baby,鈥� says J盲rvholm. 鈥淲e take it back out afterwards.鈥�
