A Swedish Woman Has Given Birth After Receiving A Womb Transplant From Her Own Mother

uterus-transplantScience is just the coolest thing in the world. Thanks to the fact that medical technology is amazing, a woman in Sweden just gave birth to a baby boy using a transplanted uterus that had been donated by her mother.

According to The Associated Press, the new mother lost her uterus to cancer in her 20s and thought she would never be able to carry children. But two years ago she joined an experimental study testing womb transplants on women who either were born without wombs or lost them to cancer. Nine women received uterus transplants, and this case was unique in that the uterus came from the woman’s own mother. The grandmother, who is in her mid-50s, is of course thrilled to have her new grandson.

”It’s one uterus bridging three generations of a family,” said Dr. Mats Brannstrom, who is behind the womb-transplant process that has so far been responsible for the births of four babies.

The baby was conceived by in-vitro fertilization using the mother’s eggs and father’s sperm to create the embryo, which was implanted in the transplanted uterus. After the fourth round of IVF, the embryo stuck and the fetus grew to term. The baby is a little boy who is reportedly perfectly healthy and was delivered via planned C-section. The parents have named him Mats after the doctor responsible.

Little Mats’ origin story is unconventional for now, but the mother says she intends to tell her son how he was conceived when he is older.

”My thought is that he will always know how wanted he was,” she said. ”Hopefully when he grows up, uterus transplantation (will be) an acknowledged treatment for women like me and he will know that he was part of making that possible.”

She and her husband say they are thinking about having a second child the same way. Brannstrom says the transplanted womb can be used for both pregnancies. When the woman is finished having babies, the transplanted uterus will be removed so that she can stop taking the anti-rejection drugs that all transplant recipients take to prevent the transplanted organs from being rejected.

(Photo: iStockPhoto/GettyImages/Spectral Design)

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