(Newswire.net — October 5, 2014) — The unnamed Swedish woman has become the world’s first to give birth after having a womb transplant, doctor in charge of the research project said on Saturday.
In her mid-30s, she delivered a healthy baby boy by caesarean section, about two years after receiving a uterus donated by an unrelated, 61-year-old.
She was one of seven women who successfully underwent a womb transplant from a live donor but “There are other women more than 28 weeks pregnant,” Mats Brannstrom, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University of Gothenburg told Reuters.
“Other hospitals around Europe, the United States, Australia and China had been waiting for results of the Swedish research before beginning their own programs.” Brannstrom said.
When they obtain the results of other studies, the researchers will know how effective this procedure is and what the risks are, added Brannstrom.
However, this event sparked widespread ethical debate, with some critics saying scientists shouldn’t “play God”. Others rise the question of morality, whether spending huge sums to expensive transplantation procedures which costs around 100,000 euros ($125,000), is ethically correct when woman have the option to adopt.
“If we decide as a society that infertility is a type of disease – which we have – we should try to treat it,” said Brannstrom, stated that the treatment, the first available for women who were born without a viable womb or who have had their uterus removed because of cancer, was “a matter of justice”.
The University of Gothenburg has already treated nine patients. This is the first type of transplant that is temporary,” Brannstrom said as all the women treated will have their uteruses removed again after their pregnancies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 10 percent of women (6.1 million) in the United States ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant, but only one-third of infertility cases in US are caused by women’s problems. One third of fertility problems are due to the man, and another one third is caused by a mixture of male and female problems or by unknown problems.