In a first for the United States, a clinic has delivered a healthy baby from the transplanted uterus of a deceased donor.
It’s a promising development in reproductive options for women who are infertile due to uterine problems, according to the research team behind the delivery.
The girl was born in June via cesarean section to a patient in her mid-30s, said the Cleveland Clinic, which performed the transplantation and birth.
The patient was born without a uterus and entered the clinic’s trial for women with uterine factor infertility, said Dr. Tommaso Falcone, a member of the transplant team. Women with this condition either are born without an intact uterus or have had uterine damage through an infection, procedure or hysterectomy.
The unnamed patient elected to remove the transplanted uterus after the birth, he said.
“This was always a question mark that required research,” he said. “But this goes to the idea that a deceased donor can give her uterus, and it will function amazingly well.”
