Thursday, June 28, in Italy, a woman gave birth to a baby boy thanks to a uterus transplant from her twin sister. A great first in the history of medicine.
This Thursday, in Bologna, Italy, took place a birth that is considered a scientific feat: that of the first baby conceived thanks to a uterus transplant between two twins.
This lovely story is the fruit of the work of Prof. Mats Brännström. This specialist in reproductive medicine and director of Stockholm IVF, a branch of the Eugin group, has indeed grafted the uterus of his twin sister onto the future mother. Of Serbian origin, the young woman, who lives in Italy, was indeed born without a uterus due to a congenital malformation, we learn. Release. So it was his twin sister who gave him his. The operation took place in March 2017 at Children University Hospital in Belgrade, Serbia, and lasted 15 hours (ten for uterine removal and five for implantation).
After a problem-free pregnancy, the little boy was born Thursday under cesarean section at the Sant Orsola University Hospital in Bologna.
Twelve babies born from uterine transplants since 2014
This is not the first time a baby has been born thanks to a uterus transplant. In October 2014, in Sweden, the first birth took place following a uterine transplant, carried out a year earlier by Prof. Brännström. This intervention has since allowed eleven other children to see the light of day, including eight thanks to the Swedish specialist.
On the other hand, this is indeed the first transplant between two true twin sisters. This unprecedented situation offers a real advantage: that of not using immunosuppressants. This treatment, usually essential to avoid rejection of the transplant, is in fact very restrictive for the transplanted person.
Prof. Mats Brännström welcomed this achievement in a press release. “This is an important milestone in the field of reproductive medicine and transplant surgery. It is in addition to the initial success of the mother-daughter transplant, where we have seen a rate of birth (returned babies). house) by 85%, ”he says.
Hope for women born without a uterus
This new birth, which occurred after a uterine transplant, offers hope to many women deprived of a uterus for congenital or medical reasons.
Currently French law only authorizes uterine transplantation to women in a couple who are unable to conceive because of a medical problem: congenital anomaly (MRKH syndrome), hysterectomy after cancer or uterine tuberculosis. It is estimated that 2,000 or 3,000 women of childbearing age are affected in France. Often seen as a credible alternative to surrogacy (Surrogacy), uterine transplantation was the subject of an encouraging report from the Academy of Medicine in 2015.
In France, a clinical trial has been underway since 2016 at the Limoges University Hospital, on eight women. Unlike the approaches used in Sweden and the United States, it relies on uterine transplantation from deceased donors. A daring choice: for the time being, pregnancies resulting from such transplants have never been successful. The Foch hospital in Suresnes is also working on uterine transplantation, but with uteri from living donors.
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