First Uterus Transplant Performed in USA

A woman has undergone the first uterus transplant in the United States, marking a breakthrough in care for women either born without a uterus, or those women post-hysterectomy who seek to get pregnant. The uterus is a hollow female organ located within the pelvis, also known in layman’s terms as the womb. When a woman becomes pregnant, the uterus is the site of development for the baby until it is time to give birth.  You can think of the uterus as a hollowed out, upside-down pear.

The transplant team consisted of both surgeons specializing in gynecological and transplant procedures.  The operation was carried out at Cleveland Clinic the end of February, and lasted 9 hours. Currently, the 26 year old uterus recipient is said to be in stable condition following the procedure.

The procedure aims to enable women without a uterus, whether because of birth defects or hysterectomy to become pregnant and give birth successfully. Once the transplant recipient has had one to two children successfully, the uterus will be removed through another procedure.  

A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that is performed to completely remove a woman's uterus. There are a number of reasons as to why a woman would have a hysterectomy. Reasons a woman might have a hysterectomy may include uterine prolapse, cancer of the ovaries, cervix, or uterus, chronic pelvic pain, abnormal vaginal bleeding, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or adenomyosis. A hysterectomy is the second most common surgery among women in the United States. It is estimated that in the United States every year, there are about 500,000 women who have a hysterectomy.

This could be an incredible breakthrough, and viable medical solution for women post-hysterectomy who still wish to have children.  Furthermore, women who have other uterine abnormalities preventing them from getting pregnant, could also benefit from the procedure.  Although this is the first uterus transplant to be undergone in the US, the world’s first uterus transplant was performed in Sweden in 2012. Since the first transplant in Sweden, 9 more women have received transplant operation, and at least four of these women had successful pregnancies.

Specific details of the procedure have not been released yet, but it is thought that the donor uterus used in the Cleveland Clinic was from a deceased donor.  If this is in fact the case, this would be different from the procedures undertaken in Sweden which all used a uterus from a living donor in a compatible blood group.