Have a Baby

It is a new miracle at Christmas like the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus. Now we have the first United States baby born from a transplanted uterus. With this success to blow the window open for millions of women who traditionally couldn’t have a child could now be able to carry their own child. It is a milestone for women battling infertility. The research and success could be attributed to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, Texas.  It is all a huge medical breakthrough. It raises hope for thousands of American women in now this season of hope.

Women who are born without a uterus can now get one and successfully carry their own child. Baylor University successfully completed their Uterus Transplant Clinical Trial with the birth of the healthy child under these circumstances. The condition is called AUI Absolute Uterine Factor Infertility. Yes, now an infertile woman can become fertile now. AUI is a type of infertility that affects one in 500 women. There are women that have non-functioning uteruses who can benefit from a transplant. One in 4,500 women in the United States are born without a uterus each year. Imagine the pain for the women who used to get told that they would never ever be able to carry their own child. That has changed now.

Dr. Giuliano Testa was the transplant surgeon in Baylor University who successfully performed the uterine transplant. The girl was told as a teenager that she would never be able to have her own child. Now the birth of her newborn son makes him the ninth baby born in the world from a transplanted uterus. The other 8 babies born from transplanted uteruses are all from Sweden. Baylor University has completed 8 other uterus transplants and are waiting for the success of births from those 8 other women. The Clinical Trial record has 3 unsuccessful attempts and one is currently pregnant. The remaining 4 other women are in different stages of the process.

Dr. Liza Johannesson, the OB-GYN at the Medical Center, is overseeing the progress of these special women.  This all represents an incredible medical breakthrough for American women and women all over the world. The problem is called MRKH Syndrome where approximately 1 in 4,000 females has ovaries but no uterus. This transplant solves the problem. Sometimes women lose their uterus due to a hysterectomy. This type of transplant is under scrutiny because it falls under a different category than other organ implantation. You need a heart, liver or kidney in order to survive. You don’t need a uterus for survival. So does this type of organ transplant fall into the unnecessary category?

Women do need a uterus in order to give birth. The cost for this operation is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars now. Is all this necessary in America where uterine surrogacy is legal? In parts of Europe it is not legal. Now the technology and science is there in America for those women who insist on carrying their own baby. There are still medical and surgical risks involved.  For the Mom there could be rejection, bleeding, damage to the surrounding anatomy or a need for immune suppression. These complications could arise for both the donner and the recipient. Complications for the fetus could occur in a preterm delivery or growth restrictions. The baby will have to be born by C-Section.

This is huge historic happenings for new possible parents and in medical advancement in the United States. So, have a baby. Now you can no matter what possibly!