The first baby born after a uterus transplant between homozygous twins came into the world, a dream that seemed impossible but has come true.
The protagonists of the story are two 38-year-old sisters of Serbian origin who live in Italy. One of them was born without a uterus due to a congenital malformation and her sister, in a beautiful gesture, after having three children, decided to donate her uterus to her twin . The baby was born by cesarean section at Hospital Santa Orsola in Bologna, Italy, and weighed just under three kilos.
One of them was born without a uterus
The woman who received the organ was born without a uterus due to a congenital anomaly. The woman is thought likely to have Rokitansky syndrome or MRKH (Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser), a congenital malformation characterized by the absence of a vagina, uterus, and cervix.
People with this abnormality, which affects one in 4,500 women, have normally functioning ovaries and will experience the normal signs of puberty, but are not menstruating and unable to conceive.
Perfect compatibility
In March 2017, the transplant was carried out at the Belgrade Children’s University Hospital by a specialized medical team led by Swedish professor Mats Brännström, Director of the Stockholm IVF Clinic (Eugin Group) and pioneer of the uterus transplant technique.
In addition to being the first uterus transplant in the world between twins, another curiosity and advantage of this case is that, since they are homozygous or monozygous twins (also called identical twins), immunosuppressive therapy was not necessary, something essential in other types of transplants .
This is because they have identical genetic inheritance and perfect compatibility between donor and recipient .
After the transplant, the woman traveled to Stockholm to perform an IVF procedure using a cryopreserved or frozen embryo of her and her husband. According to Bologna Today, the transplant and fertilization procedure would have cost around fifty thousand euros.
Worldwide, 40 uterus transplants have been attempted so far, and of these, 12 resulted in the birth of a baby. In Spain it is a practice that is not yet authorized by the National Transplant Organization (ONT).
Via | Bologna Today
In Babies and more | After nine abortions and three years of fertility treatments, her sister gave birth to her twins through surrogacy, the first baby from a transplanted uterus.
