A woman in the UK has a lot to look forward to in the future. The woman, who chose to remain nameless, was the first UK recipient of a womb transplant, and the donor was none other than her older sister. According to The Guardian, more than 90 womb transplants have happened in countries including Sweden, the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, Czech Republic, Brazil, Germany, Serbia, and India, and most have used a living donor. As a result, about 50 babies have been born.
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The disorder is called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH), and it affects about one in every 5,000 women.
Women who have MRKH have an underdeveloped vagina and an underdeveloped or missing womb. The first sign of the disorder is a girl who does not have periods.
Despite this, their ovaries are still intact and can develop and produce eggs, which means that conceiving a child using fertility treatments is possible.
Before the transplant, the woman prepared by doing two rounds of fertility stimulation to produce eggs. The eggs were fertilized, and produced five embryos blastocyst stage.
Those embryos have been frozen and will be ready when the woman undergoes fertility treatments later this year. Doctors say that her womb is functioning as it should, and her plans to do IVF are still on track.
During pregnancy, she will have to take immunosuppressant drugs to make sure that her body doesn't reject the organ.
The transplant is expected to last about five years before the womb has to be removed.
