WOMB TRANSPLANTS ARE NOW A REALITY AND THEY'RE CHANGING PEOPLE'S LIVES

There’s new hope for the thousands of women who are unable to conceive or carry their own child

- DR MICHELLE GRIFFIN

According to the World Health Organization, infertility affects one in six people worldwide. There are many causes of infertility in both men and women, and there are also many options to assist conception and pregnancy.

But for women with absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI), things are more difficult. They either don't have uteruses (perhaps due to being born without a uterus because of a genetic condition or having had a hysterectomy at an age before starting a family), or don't have a functional uterus that's capable of carrying a pregnancy.

AUFI affects one in 500 women globally and approximately 15,000 women in the UK. Until recently, the only option for starting a family for these women has been through surrogacy and/or adoption.

Many women experiencing AUFI want to give birth to a child of their own, however. And science has now made that possible, thanks to uterine (womb) transplants, a procedure that has been developed over 25 years.

So far, 90 women around the world have received uterine transplants, which have resulted in 49 babies. It is important to continuously monitor the development of these babies, especially as the sole goal of the uterine transplant is for a live birth of a healthy infant.