CLEVELAND – The woman who underwent the first successful uterus transplant in the U.S. says she can never adequately show her gratitude to the family of the donor.
Clinic doctors performed the surgery late last month in Cleveland on a 26-year-old woman, known only as “Lindsey,” who was born without a uterus.
The hospital says the donor uterus came from a woman who had died.
The nine-hour surgery was performed by a team consisting of two transplant surgeons, two gynecological surgeons, as well as multiple nurses, anesthesiologists and other support staff.
The hospital announced last fall that it would attempt 10 transplants as part of a clinical trial.
Other countries have tried womb transplants. Sweden reported the first successful birth in 2014, with five healthy babies so far.
Doctors there say the still-experimental treatment might be an alternative for some of the thousands of women unable to have children because they were born without a uterus or lost it to disease.
Hospital officials say uterine factor infertility affects an estimated 50,000 women of child-bearing age in the U.S.