A woman in Ohio, United States has delivered a baby born from a womb transplanted from a deceased woman.
Cleveland Clinic announced on Tuesday that the woman in her mid- 30s was among three who successfully received a transplant at the facility.
The transplant and birth are part of an on-going clinical trial – Uterine Transplantation for the Treatment of Uterine Factor Infertility – at the clinic.
The trial involved 10 women with Uterine Factor Infertility (UFI). The 10 women involved in the study are aged between 21 and 39 years old.
According to the clinic, women with UFI don’t have a uterus or had their uterus removed.
“It’s important to remember that this is still research, but it’s exciting to see what the options may be for women in the future,” said maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr Uma Perni in a statement on the Cleveland Clinic’s website.
This is the second time a woman has been able to give birth using a womb harvested from a dead person’s uterus. The first case was reported in Brazil in December 2017.
One in 500 women of child bearing age worldwide are affected by the irreversible condition.
One in 5,000 women is born with UFI, the Cleveland Clinic reports.
The transplant of a uterus “is not meant to be lifelong” and is only meant for one or two live births.
The women involved in the trial underwent a rigorous screening process and were closely monitored after becoming pregnant via in-vitro fertilization.
