Daughter Could Get Mom's Uterus In World's First Womb Transplant

By Anna North | June 13, 2011 | 1:50pm

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A mom and daughter are poised to make medical history — the daughter, born without a uterus, could receive her mother’s as a transplant.

According to the Telegraph, Sara Ottoson, 25, has the rare Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, meaning she was born without some parts of her reproductive system. To help her have kids, doctors in her native Sweden are considering removing the uterus from her 56-year-old mom, Eva, and transplanting it into Sara’s body. The Telegraph breathlessly notes that “if the transplant is successful Sara […] could become pregnant and carry a child in the same womb from which she herself was born.” But these two are basically the most levelheaded people ever, and don’t seem to see it that way. Says Eva,

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My daughter and I are both very rational people and we both think ‘it’s just a womb’. She needs the womb and if I’m the best donor for her … well, go on. She needs it more than me. I’ve had two daughters so it’s served me well.

Sara adds,

I’m a biology teacher and it’s just an organ like any other organ. But my mum did ask me about this. She said ‘isn’t it weird?’ And my answer is no. I’m more worried that my mum is going to have a big operation.

She’s hopeful that the transplant will work, but says, “At the moment I am trying not to get my hopes up so that I am not disappointed. But we have also been thinking about adoption for a long time and if the transplant fails then we will try to adopt.” The stoicism with which these two are facing a potentially life-changing operation is pretty charming (they are Swedes, after all). But whether or not they think it’s a big deal, the transplant, if successful, could be groundbreaking. Only about 1 in 5,000 people have MRKH, but other women lose their wombs for a variety of reasons, and successful procedure could give all of them hope of carrying a child. There’s also another possibility — if a mom could give her daughter a uterus, why not her son?

World’s First Womb Transplant Planned [Telegraph, via Newser]

Image via Spectral-Design/Shutterstock.com