In a medical first, a woman in Sweden has given birth after receiving a womb transplant.
The 36-year-old, who remains anonymous, had a baby boy last month after receiving a uterus from a close family friend.
But the medical team says it will take a long time before it becomes a routine operation.
Mats Brännström from the Uterus Transplantation Team at the University of Gothenburg said: “It depends on the results of coming research studies on the same subject. So I think this is not going to be routine clinical care or routine surgery until many, many years from now.”
A lab-produced embryo was transferred into the mother’s transplanted womb and the baby was eventually delivered by caesarean section.
Liza Johannesson, a gynaecology surgeon at the University of Gothenburg, said: “They are very good, I would say. They are happy, of course, they are in good health, both of them, and also the partner. They are now trying to form a new family and that’s what’s occupying their minds right now, but their health is perfect.”
The success of the operation gives hope to the tens of thousands of women born without a uterus, or those who’ve lost one due to an illness such as cancer.
