THIS IS AMAZING: Woman 'to become first in the world to give birth to a baby from a transplanted womb' after doctors successfully implant embryo
A women is set to become the first in
the world to give birth from a transplanted womb after doctors
successfully implanted an embryo into her body.
The
unnamed woman, who was born without a womb, was one of nine to receive a
womb transplant in Sweden between September 2012 and April last year.
It
is now hoped she will become the first in the world to successfully
give birth following the procedure after doctors managed to transfer an
embryo grown from the woman's own egg last week.
This means any child she has through IVF would genetically be her own.
New hope: An unnamed woman may now become the
first in the world to give birth to a womb transplant baby after doctors
successfully transferred an embryo into her body. Image shows Sweden's
University of Gothenburg team practising how to carry out the womb
transplant operation ahead of the procedure
And as her transplanted
womb was transferred by her mother, her baby would also be the first in
the world to be born from the same womb as their mother.
Dr Mats Brannstrom,
professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Sahlgrenska Academy,
Gothenburg, who led the transplant team, told The Sunday Telegraph: 'The
best scenario is a baby in nine months.
The woman was one of nine to undergo womb
transplants in Sweden between September 2012 and April last year.
Picture shows the Swedish surgical team practising the transplant
operation
'A success would be an important proof of principle that a procedure is now available to cure uterine infertility.'
The
woman suffers from MRKH syndrome, a congenital disorder which prevents
the womb from developing, but means she still has intact ovaries which
produce eggs.
This meant her egg could be fertilised outside of her body and the embryo then placed in her womb.
But
the woman will have to wait and see if the embryo successfully embeds
in her uterine wall before she will know if she is in fact pregnant.
Dr Brannstrom admits it's impossible to estimate the chance of success.
He
told the newspaper: 'We know the pregnancy rate in the normal
population − the chance for one embryo would be about 25 per cent − so
it may take some trials until we get a pregnancy, or we may be lucky and
get a pregnancy first time. We don’t know.'
Seven
of the other transplant patients also suffered from this condition
while the ninth had her womb removed after suffering cervical cancer.
The development will give hope to thousands of childless women across Europe and at least 15,000 in the UK.
The
method has been controversial though because it involves taking wombs
from living donors. The Swedish team favours it because the organs are
generally in better condition and a better immunological match.
Other
surgeons in the same field do not believe it is right to put a living
donor through such a major operation when it is not life-saving.
Procedure: Doctors grew an embryo from the
woman's own egg before implanting it in her transplanted womb as it is
not connected to her fallopian tubes
They say the best option is to use an
organ from a dead donor. This allows them to transplant extra tissue
and the major blood vessels needed to take the strain of pregnancy.
Richard
Smith, head of Womb Transplant UK, said earlier this month that the
charity is ready to give five British women wombs from dead donors,
subject to receiving ethical clearance and raising the £500,000 required
to cover the cost of surgery. ‘We are good to go, save for the fact we
haven’t got any money,’ he said.
Derya Sert, pictured, from Turkey, had a
transplant in August 2011 and subsequently conceived but she miscarried
after eight weeks of pregnancy
Mr Smith, a consultant gynaecological
surgeon, described the Swedish breakthrough as ‘amazing’ and said a
successful birth would bolster similar projects around the world.
Any
babies the Swedish women bear are likely to be delivered by caesarean
section and the new wombs will be removed after only one or two
pregnancies.
The women are
on powerful immunosuppressant drugs but the biggest worry is how well a
transplanted womb will cope with the strains of pregnancy, during which
the womb swells from the size of a pear to that of a melon.
Critics
question the process, with fertility expert Lord Winston saying the
risks are too great and some women should accept that they will never
bear children.
Those in favour say it is the only way for some women to fulfil their deep-seated yearning to have a baby.
Experts say the operations will only be considered a success on the birth of a healthy baby.
Dr
Yacoub Khalaf, medical director of the Assisted Conception unit at
Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in London, said: ‘What remains to be seen
is whether this is a viable option or if this is going to be confined to
research and limited experimentation.’
The
world’s first womb transplant took place in Saudi Arabia in 2000.
However, the woman’s body rejected the donated organ after four months.
Turkish doctors performed a successful transplant in 2011, but patient Derya Sert lost her baby during pregnancy last year.