In Stockholm, Sweden, doctors successfully performed nine womb transplants in the first major experiment to test whether it is possible to transplant wombs into women so they can give birth to their own children, reports the Star Tribune.  The wombs were donated by the women’s relatives and, soon, they will try to become pregnant as doctors transplant embryos into their new wombs.  There have been two previous attempts at this course of action, one in Saudi Arabia and one in Turkey, but neither was successful in producing a baby.

This research, from a team at the University of Goteborg, is being performed on women that were born without a uterus or had it removed because of cervical cancer.  Most of the patients are currently in their 30s.  While transplants are normally considered life-saving measures, doctors have been exploring new avenues for using transplants to improve quality of life.  Womb transplants continue to push transplant science even further.  Currently, womb transplants are considered temporary measures to, hopefully, allow childbearing.

The head of the research team, chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of Gothenburg, said the nine womb recipients were doing well.  Many already had their periods six weeks after the transplants, which is an early sign that the wombs are healthy and functioning.  One woman had an infection in her newly received uterus and others had some minor rejection episodes, but none of the recipients or donors needed intensive care after the surgery. All were able to leave the hospital within days of the transplant.  The team is preparing a womb transplant workshop next month to share their technique.

The transplant operations did not connect the women’s uteruses to their fallopian tubes, so they are unable to get pregnant naturally. However, all of the women chosen to participate in the experimental study have their own ovaries and can make eggs.  Before the operation, they had some removed to create embryos through in-vitro fertilization.  The embryos were then frozen and doctors plan to transfer them into the new wombs, allowing the women to carry their own biological children.

Until now, woman without a womb have not been able to bear their own children, resulting in a market for others to carry children for them.  In India, Reuters reports that surrogacy for pay or “rent-a-womb” is a booming industry.  Testimonials from happy couples that finally have the child they dreamed of continue to fuel the industry’s growth.  However, there is a growing debate that regulation of the industry is necessary in order to avoid exploitation of poor women.  This new procedure provides a possible alternative to this controversial business.