Womb Transplants on the Horizon: NHS to Offer Procedure After Successful UK Operation

author: FutureCar Staff    

A 34-year-old woman in the UK has made history by becoming the first person to receive a womb transplant. The procedure was successful and is expected to open doors for women who are born without a uterus to have the opportunity to give birth. The woman received a womb donation from her 40-year-old sister, who generously agreed to give up her uterus after having already given birth to two children.

This groundbreaking procedure has brought hope to thousands of women in the UK who are unable to conceive due to the absence of a womb. However, womb transplants are not widely available, with only around 90 having been performed internationally. The first UK procedure was funded by the charity Womb Transplant UK, costing approximately £25,000. The surgeons and medical staff involved in the transplant volunteered their time and were not paid for the operation.

Womb Transplant UK has received approval for 10 more operations using organs from brain-dead donors and an additional five using organs from living donors, most likely from a sister or mother. The charity currently has enough funds for four of these operations. To be eligible for the program, women must reside in the UK and be between the ages of 24 and 40, or 42 if embryos are frozen before the age of 38. Over the years, more than 500 women have contacted the charity, with around 50 currently undergoing checks and a smaller number at an advanced stage.

While womb transplants may eventually become available on the NHS, it is expected to take several years. Womb Transplant UK intends to publish evaluations of their operations for scientific peer review, which will require a significant amount of time. Once these evaluations are complete, they will assess the long-term sustainability of a permanent program. It remains to be seen whether the funding will come from the charity or the NHS.

Estimates suggest that there are approximately 15,000 women in the UK of childbearing age who do not have a functioning womb. However, only a small percentage of these women would meet the selection criteria for a womb transplant. For instance, women with MKRH have kidneys in place of a womb, making the transplant procedure too complex for them. Professor Richard Smith, clinical lead at Womb Transplant UK, believes that in the future, a maximum of 20 to 30 transplants could be performed in the UK each year. He anticipates that there would be two centers carrying out the procedure, one in the south and one in the north of England.

FutureCar Staff