The world’s first womb swap baby [must read]
Two more womb swap babies due in weeks: Expectant mums use organ of their own mothers to have children (and here's the boy who made history)
- The women have wombs transplanted by their own mothers
- The world’s first womb swap baby, Vincent, has already been delivered
- Doctors say the pregnancies are going well and the mothers are 'excited'
- The news gives hope to Britain’s estimated 15,000 childless women
Two women are just weeks away from giving birth – using transplanted wombs donated by their own mothers.
The expectant mums will be the first to carry children using the very uterus that carried them as unborn infants. The pregnancies are part of a revolutionary Swedish project to allow childless women to fulfil their dream of starting a family.
The world’s first womb swap baby, named as Vincent, has already been delivered using an unrelated donor.
Now doctors are preparing for two more arrivals – but this time each one is being nurtured in its grandmother’s womb.
World first: Vincent was nurtured in a donated womb. It has now emerged that two women are just weeks away from giving birth – using transplanted wombs donated by their own mothers
The news gives hope to Britain’s estimated 15,000 childless women and provides a boost for a similar project in the UK in which 60 women are waiting for a new womb, Pictured, Vincent and his mother after his delivery
The extraordinary procedure, which doctors have likened in importance to the first successful heart transplant, means each womb will have carried two generations of the same family.
Dr Liza Johannesson, of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, said the pregnancies are going well and the mothers are ‘really excited’ at seeing their babies, which are due next month.
‘It is also really exciting to have your mother as a donor,’ she added. ‘It is a very nice gift to give to your daughter.’
The news gives hope to Britain’s estimated 15,000 childless women and provides a boost for a similar project in the UK in which 60 women are waiting for a new womb.
Many women will have been born without the organ, others will have had a hysterectomy because of cancer or as a last-ditch attempt stop life-threatening bleeding during labour.
Eventually, the technique could also be used on women who have suffered the agony of repeated miscarriages. Using a donated womb also means that expectant mothers can have babies that are genetically their own and experience the joys of pregnancy.
Doctors in Turkey and Saudi Arabia have carried out womb transplants before – but none has so far led to a birth. Teams in the US, China and Australia are also keen to start their own programmes.
The Swedes have carried out nine womb transplants – and seven of the women have had IVF treatment.
Late on Friday night, it emerged that one had been successful – and the world’s first womb transplant baby was delivered. He has been called Vincent – a name derived from the Latin for ‘to conquer’ – to mark the extraordinary lengths his mother undertook to have him.
Pernilla Dahm Kähler (left) has spent 15 years perfecting the complex surgical techniques involved in a womb transplant, said she felt ‘humble and proud’ to witness the birth. Consultant gynaecologist Dr Liza Johannesson (right), of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, said the pregnancies are going well
(Left to right) Specialist surgeons Andreas G Tzakis, Pernilla Dahm-Kähler, Mats Brannstrom, Michael Olausson and Liza Johannesson attend a news conference, at Sahlgrenska hospital in Gothernburg, Sweden
Born by C-section two months prematurely, Vincent weighed just under 4lb and entered the world with a scream, bringing tears of joy to those who witnessed his arrival.
His 36-year-old mother, who worked until the day before he was born, said: ‘As soon as I felt this perfect baby boy on my chest, I had tears of happiness and enormous relief.
‘I felt like a mother the first time I touched my baby and was amazed that we finally did it.
‘I have always had this large sorrow because I never thought I would be a mother – and now the impossible has become real.’
A keen athlete, she was devastated when she was told at the age of 15 that she did not have a womb. She was able to carry her own child after a 61-year-old friend offered to donate her womb. Despite being long past menopause, her womb worked normally during the pregnancy.
Consultant gynaecologist Dr Johannesson described Vincent’s birth, which took place a month ago but has remained a secret until now, as ‘breathtaking’.
‘It was like having your own child. It was the same feeling – no one could really believe it.’
The doctor, who was pregnant with her third child at the same time as Vincent’s mother, said: ‘I was more involved in that pregnancy than in my own.’
Vincent is now back home with his parents, who have not been named. He is breastfeeding and growing well. Dr Johannesson added: ‘They are doing perfect. The parents told me that first night at home was horrible because he was screaming – like any other child.’ Vincent’s father said: ‘We now have the most amazing baby. He’s no different from any other child, but he will have a good story to tell.’
