A 36-year-old woman from Sweden has become the first in medical history to conceive a baby with a transplanted uterus that she received from a close friend last year. The unidentified woman gave birth to a premature, but healthy, baby boy just two days ago. She and her precious little one are reportedly home and doing just fine.
The new mom says she was devastated, as we can only imagine, to find out at age 15 that she was born without a womb. At that point in time, doctors couldn't even fathom the possibility that some kind of medical procedure would be invented that would allow the teen to one day carry a child of her own, and so she was told to pretty much forget about it.
What a difference a decade makes. After hearing about new womb transplanting research led by a prominent Swedish doctor, the woman signed herself up to take one of the greatest risks of her life -- which she now says was well worth it.
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The woman's mother reportedly wanted to be her donor, but her uterus wasn't an ideal match for the patient. But when a 61-year-old family friend, who had two sons before going through menopause, agreed to donate her womb, the operation proved extremely successful.
Doctors say there are definite risks involved in the uterus transplant -- the surgery is long and complications are possible. The Swedish woman had to take three medicines to keep her body from rejecting her friend's uterus and experienced three mild rejections, including one that took place while she was pregnant.
Her baby boy grew normally inside of her until week 31, when doctors diagnosed the woman with preeclampsia, which is a high-blood-pressure condition. Fearing the baby's health after his heart rate sounded abnormal, docs delivered the mom's baby via C-section.
The couple says they named their son "Vincent" because the name means "to conquer."
What a beautiful, inspirational story. Even though medical experts do not predict womb transplants will become common, this gives hope to women who have had to have their uterus removed because of cancer and other diseases. The advancements we continue to make in medical science make it possible for women who never dreamed they know what it feels like to hold their own baby to conceive and give birth to little angels.
It isn't difficult to understand why this woman says the risk was well worth it.
Would you take a risk like this and get a womb transplant if it meant you could conceive a baby?
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