Women who have lost their uterus due to infection or surgery can hope to conceive by being eligible for a uterus transplant. But is the procedure a good fit for everyone?
Doctors from a clinic in Cleveland will enlist 10 women who have known uterine factor infertility (UFI) to undergo a uterine transplant. UFI means that a prospect mother cannot conceive due to being born without a uterus, a damaged uterus due to infection or injury, or because their uterus was previously removed by surgery.
"Being able to carry a pregnancy and have a biological child, that's extremely important," said Lisa Campo-Engelstein, assistant professor at the Center for Biomedical Ethics Education And Research at Albany Medical College in New York.
After being cleared as safe to perform on patients, uterus transplants had been successfully done on several patients. In a study made in Sweden, among nine women who underwent the surgery, five pregnancies and four births have been reported so far. However, the uteruses used came from living donors. The study to be performed in Cleveland will make use of uteruses from deceased donors.
According to some experts, deceased donor uteruses were easier to remove and to facilitate transfer than uteruses coming from living ones.
But if women undergo this surgery, can they conceive by normal sexual reproduction? Experts say, not really.
Women with transplanted uteruses will need fertility treatments because the surgically implanted uterus will not be connected to their fallopian tubes, which is connected to the ovaries that supply egg cells needed for conception.
In other words, any baby that will come from a transplanted uterus will be a fruit of in vitro fertilization, wherein the eggs extracted from the prospect mother, fertilized in a lab then returned to the woman's uterus when it is ready to grow. Women with transplanted uteruses are also required to undergo Caesarean section instead of normal delivery as to avoid extra trauma to the uterus.
Women will have to wait a year before their uteruses can be ready to receive embryos, and after two babies, the implanted organ must be removed to avoid long term problems that can result from taking immunosuppressant drugs, which are given to decrease chances of the patient's body rejecting the implanted uterus.
Lastly, a uterus transplant is a major surgery, and these surgeries are never without risks. Some argue that these transplant surgeries have such high risks that could endanger lives, and is unethical because the surgery is not necessary to save a life in the first place.
However, for some patients and doctors, the option to have a uterine transplant is a blessing for those who have limited choices on having children of their own despite their condition.
"Although adoption and surrogacy provide opportunities for parenthood, both pose logistical challenges and may not be acceptable due to personal, cultural or legal reasons." Dr. Tommaso Falcone, Women's Health Institute chairman, explained.
