Turkish doctors have announced that the first woman ever to receive a uterus from a deceased donor is two weeks pregnant with an IVF baby.

Turkish doctors have announced that the first woman ever to receive a uterus from a deceased donor is two weeks pregnant with an IVF baby. Derya Sert, 22, was born without a womb. Doctors at Akdeniz University Hospital transplanted a womb from a donor in 2011. They waited for 18 months to see if the transplant had been successful. Mrs Sert’s ovaries are functioning and she was able to produce eggs which were fertilised with her husband’s sperm.

One in 5,000 women is born without a uterus. Unfortunately, however, this procedure is not a cure. Mrs Sert still faces the risk of miscarriage and other complications. If the pregnancy goes to term, the birth will be via C-section. At some stage the uterus will be removed to avoid complications and the possibility of rejection. There is a risk that the drugs which the woman needs so that her immune system will not reject the donor womb could cause birth defects. 

Michael Cook
Creative commons
Turkey
uterus transplant