In Spain, a baby was born from his grandmother's womb due to a womb transplant his mother underwent two years before.
Baby Born From Grandmother's Womb
Two years ago, a mother got a womb transplant from her own mother. On January 2, she successfully gave birth to a baby boy from that very womb. With this, the baby boy essentially grew inside the womb, where his mother also developed.
Both Maira, the mother of the baby, and her mother reached out to Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, which had been researching the delivery of babies born from transplanted wombs, with hopes that they would be able to do the same.
Maira shares that prior to the birth of Manuel, her son, she would tell him that she was once inside that womb, telling her baby further that he would be fine.
This case is the first of its kind in Spain, wherein a baby was born from the womb of his grandmother. The first time such a mother-daughter womb transplant case took place was in 2014 in Sweden, wherein Emelie Eriksson birthed a son from her mother's own womb.
It also serves as the second time that Spain has seen a baby born from a transplanted womb. The first case was in March 2023, when a mother bore her child from the womb donated by her sister.
According to Francisco Carmona, who heads the Hospital Clinic de Barcelo's Gynaecology Service, Maira was once inside the womb that is within her. This case serves as a medical milestone that is worthy of credit. It also results from an excellent team's expertise.
Because of a condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome, Maira could not get pregnant with her own uterus. This condition is a rare congenital disorder that leads to the female reproductive system being underdeveloped. The condition impacts roughly one woman among 4,500 women. It is marked by having a shortened vagina and an absent or small uterus.
Since then, Maira and her family have gone back to their home. Maira expresses hope to bear a second child soon.
ALSO READ: Pioneering 18-Hour Womb Transplant in the U.K. Provides Hope for Women Struggling With Infertility
Womb Transplants
Womb transplants are extremely complicated. They require both the donor and recipient to undergo a hysterectomy. This will then be followed by the installation of the uterus into the receiver.
After undergoing the transplant in 2022, Maira had fertility treatment so that she could get pregnant. She grew various embryos from her partner's sperm and her own eggs through in vitro fertilization. She then got pregnant and bore her child through a cesarean section when the baby was 37 weeks old. Patients with uterine transplants are not recommended to undergo vaginal delivery.
According to the doctors, the donated womb of a mother is just as viable as that of a younger donor. If the uterus is given hormones, it will start menstruating once more and be perfectly normal. Carmona explains that they are more concerned about whether the donors have a smoking history.
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