A woman in Sweden has given birth to a baby boy using a transplanted womb, in a medical first, doctors report.
The 36 year-old mother, who was born without a uterus, received a donated womb from a friend in her 60s.
The British medical journal The Lancet says the baby was born
prematurely in September weighing 1.8kg (3.9lb). The father said his
son was "amazing"
Cancer treatment and birth defects are the main reasons women can be left without a functioning womb.
If they want a child of their own, their only option is surrogacy.
The identity of the couple in Sweden has not been released, but it is known the mother still had functioning ovaries.
The couple went through IVF to produce 11
embryos, which were frozen. Doctors at the University of Gothenburg then
performed the womb transplant.
The donor was a 61-year-old family friend who had gone through the menopause seven years earlier.
Drugs to suppress the immune system were needed to prevent the womb being rejected.
A year after the transplant, doctors decided they were ready to implant one of the frozen embryos and a pregnancy ensued.
The baby was born prematurely, almost 32 weeks into the
pregnancy, after the mother developed pre-eclampsia and the baby's heart
rate became abnormal.
Both baby and mum are now said to be doing well.
In an anonymous interview with the AP news agency, the father
said: "It was a pretty tough journey over the years, but we now have
the most amazing baby.
"He's no different from any other child, but he will have a good story to tell.''
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