Womb
transplants raise ethical concerns
Nine women in Sweden have successfully received
transplanted wombs donated from relatives in an experimental procedure that has
raised some ethical concerns. The women were born without a uterus or had it
removed because of cervical cancer. Most are in their 30s and are part of the
first major experiment to test whether it's possible to transplant wombs into
women so they can give birth to their own children. There have been two
previous attempts to transplant a womb — in Turkey and Saudi Arabia — but both
failed to produce babies. Scientists in Britain, Hungary and elsewhere are also
planning similar operations but the efforts in Sweden are the most advanced. The
transplants have ignited hope among women unable to have children because they
lost a uterus to cancer or were born without one.
About one in girl in 4,500 is born with a syndrome,
known as MRKH, where she doesn't have a womb. All of the women who received
womb transplants will need to take anti-rejection medicines, but Smith said
data from women who have received kidney transplants doesn't suggest their
babies are at any increased risk from the drugs. Brannstrom said using live
donors allowed them to ensure the donated wombs were functional and didn't have
any problems like an HPV infection. Brannstrom said he and his colleagues hope
to start transferring embryos into some of their patients soon, possibly within
months. After a maximum of two pregnancies, the wombs will be removed so the
women can stop taking the anti-rejection drugs, which can cause high blood
pressure, swelling and diabetes and may also raise the risk of some types of
cancer.
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