History was made in China on November 20, as
the county's first womb transplant was carried
out successfully on a 22-year-old woman with a
uterus donated by her mother. According to a
statement by the Xijing Hospital which is
affiliated to the Fourth Military Medical
University, the transplanted organ had been
accepted by the recipient and she was
recovering well after the successful surgery.
he recipient, Yang Hua, from northwest China's
Shaanxi Province, never experienced
menstruation like other girls. In 2013, a
diagnosis...an ultrasonic image showed that she
was congenitally absent of uterus and vagina.
Doctors offered Yang, who wanted to have her
own baby, the only feasible solution...a womb
transplant, a difficult medical challenge
worldwide. Chen Biliang, director of the
hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department
said that the complex of blood vessels are
difficult to connect, and there is a high risk of
rejection.
However, the surgery was granted ethical
approval by the hospital’s ethics committee,
noting that the donor and recipient are mother
and daughter, thereby no legal conflicts over the
offspring would ensue.
Before the transplant, Yang firstly underwent two
colpoplasties earlier this year. The doctors also
created and froze embryos using eggs from
Yang’s own functioning ovary and sperm from
her partner, so that healthy embryos could be
transferred into the new womb, allowing Yang to
carry her own biological child.
On November 20, 38 surgeons jointly performed
the operation on Yang and her mother. A robot
assisted in removing the mother’s uterus before
transplanting it into the daughter’s body. The
whole process took 14 hours.
Chen said the successful practice offered hope
to those suffering infertility problems because
they are born without a womb or forced to
remove it due to cancer or other diseases. It
could also in theory open the door for men who
want to bear children of their own.
"It could be possible to transfer a womb into
a man's body after surgery and drug therapy,"
Chen said.
-Photos of Yang and her husband showing their
gratitude to the doctors at the military hospita
