Uterus Transplant: Does It Have Legs?

Excerpt

There are essential life-saving transplants like kidney, liver, heart and bone marrow among others. A uterus transplant does not even come near and is clearly non essential. Yet eleven documented uterus transplants have been performed in three countries in human beings to date. One of these has been from a deceased donor. The most obvious reason to perform this procedure with all its comorbidities is to treat an irreversible uterine factor in infertility including Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, Asherman’s syndrome and an already hysterectomised patient. Uterine agenesis and hypoplasia are other causes. The treatment for a uterine factor has been adoption and surrogacy as of now. The only rationale for performing a uterus transplant seemingly is to give the woman an emotional catharsis of carrying a pregnancy till birth and affording her that ‘magical’ experience of motherhood. …