Surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic are hopeful that within a few months, they'll be able to successfully transplant a uterus into a woman who doesn't have one, but wants to get pregnant and give birth.
Women without a uterus or those who have a damaged organ can be considered for the surgery, The New York Times reports. Doctors will take the uterus, cervix, and part of the vagina out of a deceased donor, and will then connect the uterus to the recipient's vagina. She will be put on anti-rejection drugs, and after a year of healing, in vitro fertilization can start (because the transplanted uterus won't be connected to fallopian tubes, a natural pregnancy won't be able to take place). Once a woman becomes pregnant, she'll be considered high-risk, and the baby will have to be born via c-section before its due date in order to prevent the uterus from being strained during labor.
Because of safety concerns, a woman can only have one or two babies with her transplanted uterus; it can be removed surgically, or doctors say she can stop taking her anti-rejection pills and the uterus will wither away. Women have to be healthy and pass an intense screening process to ensure they are not being pressured into the transplant and they have support at home. In Sweden, nine women have had transplants and four have given birth to healthy babies, and at the Cleveland Clinic, they hope to perform 10 experimental procedures before deciding if they should continue. There are eight women being screened now, including one 26-year-old who told the Times she "craves" the experience of being pregnant. She was born without a uterus, and says she wants "the morning sickness, the backaches, the feet swelling. I want to feel the baby move. That is something I've wanted for as long as I can remember."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 artfully drawn cartoons about Donald Trump's Epstein doodleCartoons Artists take on a mountainous legacy, creepy art, and more
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
