New advance in ‘shared motherhood’

^{Donna and Jasmine Francis-Smith with their son Otis}

Unlike the sameness of natural conception, innovation in the IVF industry is never-ending. In the latest development, a London clinic and a Swiss medical device company, Anecova, have  created the first baby gestated in two wombs.

Lesbian couple Donna and Jasmine Francis-Smith underwent the procedure at London Women’s Clinic. Donna’s eggs were placed inside a miniature capsule together with donor sperm and inserted into her womb for 18 hours until fertilisation took place. The embryo was then retrieved and placed in Jasmine’s womb. According to Anecova, “shared motherhood” allows “both partners to be involved in the nourishing and developing of the embryo during its very early stages of development”.

“The Anecova procedure has really made me and Donna feel equal in the whole process and has emotionally brought us closer together, we are a true family,” says Jasmine. The baby, Otis Francis-Smith, was born in September.

Michael Cook is the editor of BioEdge

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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