A woman in Dallas recently became the first person in the United States born without a uterus to successfully give birth, Time reported Friday. The woman, who declined to give her name for the story, is one of eight people in an experimental trial at Baylor University Medical Center in which a uterus is transplanted into a woman born with a nonexistent or dysfunctional organ. Although three previous uterine transplants at Baylor had failed, eight babies have been born to mothers with transplanted uteruses in Sweden in a similar trial.
Dr. Liza Johannesson, an ob-gyn and transplant surgeon at Baylor who also worked on uterine transplants in Sweden, told Time, "We've been waiting for this moment for a very long time. I think everyone had tears in their eyes when the baby came out. I did for sure." The Cesarean birth was made possible by a 36-year-old nurse who donated her uterus to Baylor's transplant program after hearing about it on the news. Time notes that most of the uterus recipients are between the ages of 20 and 35, but that donors — who can be either alive or dead — must be between 30 and 60.
The one catch with this medical miracle? It's very expensive. Time says that the cost of a uterine transplant — which insurance companies are reluctant to pay for — could be as much as $500,000. Dr. Giluiano Testa, who leads Baylor's uterine transplant trial, said, "The reality is that it's going to be very difficult for many women to afford this."
Read the full story at Time.