Uterus Transplant

Uterine transplant is a procedure whereby a healthy uterus is transplanted into a female organism of which the uterus is absent or diseased. As normal mammalian sexual reproduction, a diseased or absent uterus does not allow normal embryonic implantation, effectively rendering the female infertile. This phenomenon is known as absolute uterine factor infertility. Uterine transplant is a potential treatment for this form of infertility.

While uterus transplant is currently still in the early clinical research phase, the birth of a child after uterus transplant is an important step toward another reproductive option for women with uterine factor infertility. While the current subject in Sweden only had one episode of mild rejection during her pregnancy, the decision to increase immunosuppressive therapy rather than remove the uterus if rejection occurs is certainly made more ethically complex if the recipient is pregnant, severe rejection is diagnosed, and a fetus is gestating.