UK’s first-ever womb transplant hailed by doctors as ‘dawn of new era’ in fertility treatment
The first-ever womb transplant in the UK has been hailed as the “dawn of a new era” in fertility treatment.
A 40-year-old woman, who already had two children, decided to help her 34-year-old sister, who had been born without a uterus.
Now, six months on, the recipient is having periods and is preparing to eventually have her own embryos implanted, already created via IVF with her own eggs.
Pic: Womb Transplant UK
Professor Richard Smith, one of two lead surgeons during the operations, said it had been a “massive success”, describing the joy he shared with the sisters during a clinic one month on.
“We were all in tears – it was a very, very emotional,” he said.
“I think it was probably the most stressful week of our surgical careers, but also unbelievably positive.
“The donor and recipient are just over the moon.”
The recipient lives in England, and she and her sister do not wish to be named.
The surgery was carried out one Sunday in early February at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital by a team of more than 30 staff.
The operation to remove the donor’s womb lasted more than eight hours.
Pic: Womb Transplant UK
Before the uterus was taken out, surgeons had already begun operating on her younger sister and after a further nine hours and 20 minutes, the transplant was complete.
The surgery was funded by Womb Transplant UK at a cost of £25,000, which included paying the NHS for theatre time and the patients’ hospital stay.
Surgeons and medical staff were not paid for their time.
“I’m just really happy that we’ve got a donor, who is completely back to normal after her big op, and the recipient is… doing really well on her immunosuppressive therapy and looking forward to hopefully having a baby,” said Prof Smith, who is the charity’s clinical lead.
The transplant is expected to last for a maximum of five years before the womb will be removed.
‘Remarkable achievement’
The chair of the British Fertility Society, Dr Raj Mathur, described it as “a remarkable achievement”.
“I think it’s the dawn of a new age, a new era in treating these patients,” said the consultant gynaecologist.
“You have got to remember some of these patients are the most difficult fertility situations that you can imagine – they are either born without a uterus or they have lost the uterus for reasons of cancer or other problems, for instance in labour.
“Up until now we have really not had any way of helping them other than surrogacy.”
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Isabel Quiroga, consultant surgeon at the Oxford Transplant Centre, and fellow lead during the operations, said they had been ready to attempt the first transplant before the pandemic.
“We are just delighted that this day had come,” she said.
“The whole team worked extremely well – it was an incredibly proud moment.”
The surgical team. Pic: Womb Transplant UK
For now, the plan is to focus on living donations from a relative with up to 30 transplants a year, but many women have come forward to offer their wombs.
“We have women contacting the charity… such as young women who say: ‘I don’t want to have children, but I would love to help others have a child’ or ‘I’ve already had my children I would love other women to have that experience’,” said Miss Quiroga.
Other countries, including Sweden and US, have already carried out womb transplants, ultimately resulting in successful births.
A second UK womb transplant on another woman is scheduled to take place this autumn, with more patients in the preparation stages.
UK
MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace steps down as Kirsty Wark among 13 who claim he made inappropriate sexual jokes
MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has stepped down over allegations he made a series of inappropriate sexual comments on a range of programmes over 17 years.
Broadcaster Kirsty Wark is among 13 people who have made claims, with Wallace being investigated by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.
In an interview with the BBC, the Newsnight presenter, who was a celebrity contestant on MasterChef in 2011, claimed Wallace used “sexualised language”.
“There were two occasions in particular where he used sexualised language in front of a number of people and it wasn’t as if it was anyone engaged with this,” Wark said.
“It was completely one-way traffic. I think people were uncomfortable and something that I really didn’t expect to happen.”
Sky News has contacted Wallace’s representative for comment.
Kirsty Wark. File pic: PA
‘Fully cooperating’
Banijay UK said the complaints were made to the BBC this week by “individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with Gregg Wallace on one of our shows”.
The company said the 60-year-old, who has been a co-presenter and judge of the popular cooking show since 2005, was “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”.
“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate,” the company said.
“While this review is under way, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process.
“Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.
“Whilst these are historical allegations, incidences brought to our attention where these expectations are not met, are thoroughly investigated and addressed appropriately.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.
“We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.
“Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.”
Previous investigation
Last month, Wallace responded to reports that a previous BBC review had found he could continue working at the corporation following reports of an alleged incident in 2018 when he appeared on Impossible Celebrities.
Wallace said those claims had been investigated “promptly” at the time and said he had not said “anything sexual” while appearing on the game show more than half a decade ago.
In an Instagram post following an article in The Sun newspaper, he wrote: “The story that’s hitting the newspapers was investigated promptly when it happened six years ago by the BBC.
“And the outcome of that was that I hadn’t said anything sexual. I’ll need to repeat this again. I didn’t say anything sexual.”
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Alongside MasterChef, Wallace presented Inside The Factory for BBC Two from 2015.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014. Pic: PA
Wallace has featured on various BBC shows over the years, including Saturday Kitchen, Eat Well For Less, Supermarket Secrets, Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals, as well as being a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in 2014.
He was made an MBE for services to food and charity last year.
Recorded episodes of MasterChef: The Professionals featuring Wallace will be transmitted as planned, the PA news agency understands.
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