Important Step Towards Womb Transplantation Success

The results of an experiment carried out by Swedish scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University gives hope of future success in womb transplantation in humans. Four sheep have become pregnant after the experiment during which the sheep had their wombs removed and then reconnected. This surgery is called autologous transplant and implies removal and reconnection of the same organ.

The autologous transplants were carried out in 14 sheep. Four of the sheep have become pregnant and the next step will be womb swap between two sheep.

Successful outcome of the experiment shows that womb transplantation in women will be possible in future. However , there is still much work to do before such transplants are safe, as about half the sheep involved in the experiment developed deadly complications, according to New Scientists.

Earlier this year American scientists announced their intention to carry out the first womb transplant in humans. The scientists were going to use a donor womb from a woman who had died.

If proven successful this procedure would allow women who for some reason do not have womb to conceive and to give birth.

Unfortunately today there is no successful example of womb transplant in humans. Previous womb transplant was carried out in Saudi Arabia in 2000, however doctor did not manage to achieve a success. The transplanted womb was rejected after thre months. What is more, pregnancy would put even more strain on the reattached blood vessels and this leads to quite dangerous consequences.

The main difficulty of a successful transplant is the complexity related to reattaching of blood vessels.

A womb transplant has been tried once before, in Saudi Arabia in 2000, but then the womb came from a live donor, and was rejected after three months.

One of the difficulties of a successful transplant is the complexity of the blood vessels that need to be reattached.

Peter Bowen Simpkins, a spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology says that there is not a great amount of women who will need such a procedure, as these are those born without wombs or those whose wombs were removed surgically due to some reasons.

"It's quite exciting but I can't see it is something that will become normal procedure within the next 10 years," Peter Bowen-Simpkins said.