Mother and daughter plan womb transplant
A young teacher is set to become the first person to receive a womb transplant – from her own mother. But it will be years before the procedure is available to all, a consultant tells Channel 4 News.
Sara Ottoson, 25, who was born without a uterus, will undergo surgery in Sweden next spring.
Ms Ottoson has brushed off concerns that she will receive the same womb that carried her. She said: “I’m a biology teacher and it’s just an organ like any other organ.
“But my mum did ask me about this. She said, ‘Isn’t it weird?’. And my answer is no.”
She told the Daily Telegraph: “I’m more worried that my mum is going to have a big operation.”
Simon Emery, consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at Singleton hospital in Swansea, told Channel 4 News: “This move is not a big leap, just a step. It’s just a different organ – applying the general transplant principle to a new organ.”
My daughter and I are both very rational people and we both think it’s just a womb. Eva Ottoson
However, he said it was more difficult than a kidney, liver or heart transplant due to the inaccessible position of the womb, and the long blood vessels that feed the womb.
Sara’s mother, British-based businesswoman Eva Ottoson, told the Telegraph: “My daughter and I are both very rational people and we both think it’s just a womb.
“She needs the womb and if I’m the best donor for her, well, go on. She needs it more than me. I’ve had two daughters so it’s served me well.”
Mr Emery said: “Choice is important, and in fertility treatment, if there are ways that can be found to help women conceive naturally it is worthwhile research.”
High chance of failure
Sara was denied a uterus as a result of the rare condition Mayer Rokitanksy Kuster Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, which affects around one in 1,500.
Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in UK, or around 3.5m people, according to latest government statistics.
Mr Emery said Eva’s procedure would be relatively straightforward, though could take a little longer than the average hysterectomy as the surgeons will need to preserve the lengths of the blood vessels.
Sara’s procedure, meanwhile, is likely to be prolonged, with a high chance of failure, he said.
If the procedure works Miss Ottoson will have her own eggs fertilised using her boyfriend’s sperm, then implanted into the womb.
Breakthrough procedure
Dr Mats Brannstrom, from the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg who will lead the medical team, predicted the possibility of a mother-daughter uterus transplant eight years ago.
Dr Brannstrom said he was inspired by a 24-year-old cervical cancer patient who in 1998, facing a radical hysterectomy, asked if it was possible to transplant a uterus. “I had to say no, but it got me thinking,” he said in 2003.
It would be a long time before the procedure would become available (to many) – maybe 15 or 20 years. Simon Emery, consultant
Dr Brannstrom has previously performed successful womb transplants in sheep, pigs, rats and mice.
The only womb transplant to date occurred in 2000. A womb from a 46-year-old was given to a 26-year-old but it had to be removed 99 days later because of dangerous blood clots.
Mr Emery told Channel 4 News: “The procedure is very progressive, and it would be a long time before the scheme would become available (to many) – maybe 15 or 20 years.
“It is intriguing to follow,” he added. “If it can be found to genuinely benefit, and if it can be made relatively safe and simple. The ethics will relate to the team in charge and the care with which they approach and look after the patients.”