Medical breakthroughs for previously untreatable conditions often make the headlines. Add one more milestone to the list – this time in reproductive science – the world’s first live birth last year by a 36-year-old woman who received a transplanted uterus from a 61 year-old woman who had already gone through menopause.
Uterine transplant has been likened to other breakthrough infertility treatments, including in-vitro fertilization (IVF), intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), ovarian transplantation, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and egg freezing. Previously, women with uterine factor infertility – where uterine issues interfere with pregnancy – were considered to have the last untreatable form of infertility. Now, there’s a potential solution.
This incredible breakthrough will not be able to help all women because of its cost and complexity, but it will help some women as it progresses our understanding of human reproduction and opens other avenues for reproductive research.
Nine women participated in the transplant research program at Sweden’s University of Gothenberg, receiving uteruses donated by live donors (mothers of the receivers, other close relatives or friends).
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/10/04/353691555/a-first-uterus-transplant-gives-parents-a-healthy-baby
The first “milestone mom” had intact ovaries and was able to produce eggs, which were then fertilized using IVF before the uterine transplant. The resulting embryos were then transferred to her uterus. Doctors were initially concerned that blood flow to the fetus would be compromised, but it was normal. Of the nine uterine transplants performed, two failed and three of the remaining seven women delivered healthy babies. And, a psychological evaluation conducted a year after uterine transplant found that all of women are adjusting well and each is emotionally satisfied with their decision to undergo the procedure, even those who did not get pregnant.
Research leader Dr. Mats Brännström (who also delivered the first baby), remembers when a patient first broached the idea of transplanting a uterus back in 1998 after she was treated for cervical cancer. The woman had a healthy reproductive system but after having her uterus removed was no longer able to get pregnant. Of the transplant idea, he remembers initially thinking, “This patient is mad.” He’s very glad to have been wrong.
