New hope for many: womb transplant trial approved

Published on: 02/10/2015

 

Ethical permission has been granted for the UK to begin a series of 10 womb transplants, starting next year with the hope that the first UK baby born from a womb transplant could arrive in 2017 or 2018.  This follows a successful transplant programme in Sweden which led to the first baby being born a year ago.  It’s hoped that this new procedure could offer hope for the thousands of women who are born without a womb and others who lose their womb due to other medical problems.

 

The UK’s programme is open to women aged between 25 and 38 who have functioning ovaries and their own eggs and are in a long-term relationship.  The research team currently has 104 women who meet the basic requirements for inclusion on the programme.

 

Richard Smith, Head of the research team and a consultant gynaecologist at The Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “Absolute infertility can bring with it terrible consequences for as many as 50,000 women of childbearing age in the UK who do not have a viable womb. We hope to begin a series of 10 operations early in the New Year”.

 

Prof Adam Balen, Chairman of The British Fertility Society, said: “This opens up the possibility for these women to carry their own pregnancy rather than rely upon IVF with their eggs and surrogacy.  The UK team have been working on this for many years and so it is very exciting that they have been given the go ahead to move into clinical practice.”

 

For more information see the BBC report here 

Or the RCM’s article here