The first U.S. woman to get a uterus transplant identified by just her first name, Lindsey, said she “prayed to God” that she would someday be able to get pregnant, because she was told at 16 that she would never be able to bear children. Two weeks after undergoing the first uterus transplant in the U.S., Lindsey, who is now 26 and in a wheelchair said that she and her husband have adopted three children from the foster care system.
“I want to be open and honest about my story,”. “I was told I would never have children. I prayed that God would allow me to experience pregnancy.”
Doctors at Cleveland Clinic gave more details on the first ever U.S. uterus transplant explaining that it will be at least a year until the patient can try to get pregnant through in-vitro fertilization. The team screened 250 women and picked just 10 to be a part of this study on uterus transplants. To be considered for the uterus transplant, patients had to have at least six banked fertilized embryos before the transplant was attempted.
Patients can have up to two children before the uterus is then removed, which will allow the patient to stay off immunosuppressant medications. Dr. Tommaso Falcone, chairman of the Transplant Center, explained only two pregnancies would be allowed during this study to minimize risk to the patient.
“The concept is you don’t want to keep the patient on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life,” Falcone explained.
“You’re looking at five years on these drugs. We want to minimize long-term risk.”
Falcone said the team was very elated once the surgery had been completed.
He clarified it’s still unknown how a transplant recipient will react in the long term to the transplanted organ.
Source: LIB