New study shows womb transplant to be safe and effective

Womb transplants are an effective, safe method to remedy infertility, a new study has shown

The study, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, researched uterus transplantation from living donors. The operations were headed by Mats Brännström, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and chief physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

After seven of the study’s nine transplants, IVF treatment began and six became pregnant and gave birth, while three had two children each, making it nine babies in total.

Researchers said the probability of pregnancy per individual embryo returned to a transplanted uterus was 33 percent which is no different from the success rate of IVF treatments overall.

After four years, health-related quality of life in the recipient group was higher than in the general population

Neither members of the recipient group nor the donors had levels of anxiety or depression that required treatment.

The children’s growth and development were also monitored. The study involves monitoring up to the age of two years and is, accordingly, the longest child follow-up study conducted to date in this context. Further monitoring of these children, up to adulthood, is planned.

Professor Mats Brannstrom said: “The study shows positive health outcomes: The children born to date remain healthy and the long-term health of donors and recipients is generally good too.”

The first birth after uterine transplantation took place in Gothenburg in 2014. Another seven births followed, within the framework of the same research project, before anyone outside Sweden gave birth following uterine transplantation.

The research group has since passed on its methods and techniques to several research centers outside Sweden. By year-end 2021, the number of uterine transplants in the world was estimated at 90, of which 20 had been performed in Sweden.

Worldwide, some 50 children have been born after uterine transplantation.

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