Following a pioneering clinical trial in Sweden last year, the UK's first womb transplant is set to take place next year and give 10 women the chance to carry their own babies.
It is on the back of the the birth of a baby boy last year after a successful procedure in Sweden that ethical approval now has been granted for this groundbreaking medical trial.
Ten womb transplants will take place at Imperial College London next year, meaning that the first British baby born from a transplanted womb could arrive as soon as late 2017 or 2018.
To take part in the trial the woman must be aged between 25 and 38, have functioning ovaries and their own eggs, a long-term partner and be a healthy weight. Only a third of the 300 women who approached the Womb Transplant UK team met the criteria according to the Guardian.
One in 5,000 women – or 50,000 of childbearing age in the UK – were born without a womb, while some cancer sufferers have had theirs removed.
This is what the consultant gynaecologist, who has been working on the project for almost 20 years, had to say:
“For many couples, childlessness is a disaster. Infertility is a difficult thing to treat for these women. Surrogacy is an option but it does not answer the deep desire that women have to carry their own baby. For a woman to carry her own baby – that has to be a wonderful thing.”
Before the trial starts, embryos will be created and frozen using each woman’s eggs and sperm from her partner. They will then undergo a six-hour operation to receive a womb from a donor who is classed as brain dead but who has been kept alive.
After 12 months on immunosuppressant drugs and close monitoring, each woman will be implanted with one of her embryos, with the hope of achieving a successful pregnancy. If the pregnancy is successful, the baby will be delivered by section. This is according to the medical team to prevent the donor womb suffering the trauma of labour.
Six months after giving birth, each woman can try for another child, or the womb will be removed. That would minimize the risk of keeping women on immunosuppressant medication for the rest of their lives.
