Stem cell uterus babies ‘possible’
Professor Mats Brannstrom, who is a world expert on uterine transplantation after he and his Swedish team carried out nine such procedures, said bio- engineering a uterus instead “may be the future”.
He said the procedure was “10 to 15 years away”, but explained how it could eliminate the need for the immuno-suppression required in current transplant recipients.
The surgeon revealed that clinical trials in rats have already begun where lab-grown ‘uterus-patches’ from stem cells were used.
Speaking at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists world congress, Prof Brannstrom also updated the audience on his groundbreaking transplant work which is itself a new technique.
He said that “five healthy babies” had so far resulted from the complex transplantations his team carried out, in what is only their first human clinical trial.
The doctor then revealed that one of the recipient women was now expecting her second child, from the same uterus.
