Regulators give permission for 10 transplants

The UK Womb Transplant Research team has been granted ethical permission to begin an expanded series of 10 womb transplant operations.

The head of the research team, Mr Richard Smith, a consultant gynaecologist at The Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London, said he was delighted with the news:

“As we have seen from the tremendously successful womb transplant programme being carried out by our colleagues in Sweden, this operation is clearly a viable option for those women who otherwise have absolutely no chance of carrying their own baby.

“Absolute Infertility can bring with it terrible consequences for as many as 50,000 women of childbearing age in the UK who do not have a viable womb. We hope to begin a series of ten operations early in the New Year.   However, we still need to raise around half a million pounds so that we can cover the costs of NHS services and complete our programme,” he said.

The womb transplant research programme will be open to women in a long term relationship, who are aged between 25 and 38 and who have normally functioning ovaries and their own eggs. They will be UK resident and will be eligible for NHS care.

The research team have received hundreds of requests from infertile women in recent years and currently has 104 women who meet the basic requirements for potential inclusion on the programme.

To find out more about Uterine Transplantation, please visit our fact sheet by clicking here.

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