London (EFE)
The 34-year-old woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, received her 40-year-old sister’s organ last February after an operation that lasted several hours at Churchill Hospital, in the city of Oxford (in central England). ), and in which some 20 doctors participated, according to the details released today.
The donor already has a family, with two children, and was willing to donate the uterus to her sister, while the recipient has stored embryos with the aim of undergoing fertility treatment later this year.
Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) disease
The woman who received the uterus was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) disease, a disease that affects approximately one in 5,000 women.
Women with this disease have an underdeveloped or absent uterus.
The first sign of this problem is when a teenage girl doesn’t have periods, but her ovaries are intact and working to produce eggs and female hormones, making it possible to conceive through fertility treatment.
Operation success
Gynecologist surgeon Richard Smith, who led the team of experts in charge of this procedure, told the media that this operation has been “a great success.”
“It was incredible. I think it was probably the most stressful week of my surgical career, but also incredibly positive. The giver and the recipient are delighted,” she added.
“I am very happy that we have a donor who is completely back to normal after her big operation and that the recipient, after her big operation, is doing very well on her immunosuppressive therapy and is looking forward to having a baby.” he pointed.
The woman will need to take immunosuppressive drugs to prevent her body from rejecting the donated organ. The transplant is expected to last a maximum of five years before the uterus is removed.
