The first ever baby has been born through a womb transplant from a deceased donor.
The baby girl was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, late last year following a successful 10 hour uterus transplant to a patient who had been born without a womb.
The Lancet reports that the mother had Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, a condition that causes the uterus and vagina to not develop properly.
The transplant womb was taken from a mother-of-three who had died from bleeding on the brain.
It was then transplanted to the woman who was given medication to weaken her immune system so her body would not reject the uterus.
She began having periods after six weeks and after seven months, fertilised eggs were implanted.
The baby girl was delivered via C-section last December weighing 6lbs.
BBC reports that Hospital das Clínicas’s Dr Dani Ejzenberg, said:
“The first uterus transplants from live donors were a medical milestone, creating the possibility of childbirth for many infertile women with access to suitable donors and the needed medical facilities.
“However, the need for a live donor is a major limitation as donors are rare, typically being willing and eligible family members or close friends.”
This is the only successful birth resulting from a deceased donor.
11 other births have resulted from living donors, including women who donated their uteruses to their daughters.
The 10 previous pregnancies from deceased donors have failed.
