Womb transplants

There was huge excitement in the media last week about womb transplants, which we were told could take place in humans within just a couple of years. At Infertility Network UK, we were inundated with interview requests and the news was widely hailed as a huge step forward, offering hope to women who would never otherwise be able to carry a child.

In fact, it seems that this may have been one of those hype over substance stories, as the research project had involved rabbits, who have completely different wombs to humans. Although five rabbit womb transplants were carried out and two of the rabbits survived, neither became pregnant. The transplants were seen as a success because the rabbits, who had been given immunosuppressant drugs, did not reject the transplanted wombs. In fact, being able to get pregnant and the womb being able to expand to accommodate a baby are pretty crucial if the technique is to help women have children. The only previous attempt to transplant a womb into a human was unsuccessful.

Of course, this is an interesting development - but it may be some time before we see successful womb transplants in humans.