Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic will be doing a highly experimental procedure that may reverse the chances of 10 infertile women for the better. Per New York Times, these women will be undergoing the first uterus transplant in the United States, which will make it possible for them to finally get pregnant.
Below are five important facts you should know about this:
1) Past Procedure and Differences with U.S. Procedure
The world's first uterus transplant happened in Sweden and one case was deemed a success, per BBC. The difference between the Sweden procedure against the planned U.S. procedure is in the manner by which the donors are use. In Sweden's, living relatives donated their uterus and underwent a risky removal surgery. In the United States, donors will come from the deceased. After the U.S. attempt, the U.K. will reportedly do their uterus transplant next year using deceased donors as well, per The Guardian.
2) Possible Candidates
The candidates are still being chosen and experts have a set criteria for who can be eligible. Women determined to have a uterine factor infertility condition, or those without uterus - either due to a congenital condition or because of hysterectomy, are likely candidates of the transplant. It should be noted that at least 4,500 women in the United States are born without a uterus, which is medically termed as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome per the National Institutes of Health. The candidates must be between the ages of 21 to 45 and the older women must have tried fertility treatments in the past.
3) Risks of Uterus Transplant
Experts acknowledge that there are risks as this is a major operation. The body could reject the organ and a women could experience side effects from the immunosuppressant drugs she will be required to take. Using uterus from the deceased may have unknown risks, as the donor's health prior to death could compromise the health of the women. Then there are also serious debates about whether or not this procedure is ethical, which continues to divide the medical community, according to Live Science.
4) Chances of Pregnancy After Transplant
Women who have undergone uterus transplant will not get pregnant the conventional way. They will require fertility treatments to conceive as having sex will not effectively fertilize the eggs. If they do get pregnant, they will have to give birth via Cesarean as normal labor will only traumatize their transplanted uterus, per New York Times.
5) Chances of Multiple Births
They can try for another baby after successfully conceiving and giving birth. However, after the second pregnancy, they must undergo hysterectomy to cut all of the risks. In other words, they can only have two children.
