Mother to donate her womb to daughter

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJun 13 2011

A 56-year-old mother hopes to become the first woman to have her womb transplanted into her daughter. Eva Ottoson who lives in Nottinghamshire has agreed to take part in the medical procedure that would see her donate her uterus to her daughter.

Her 25-year-old daughter, Sara, who lives in Sweden, was born without reproductive organs in a rare condition called condition Mayer Rokitanksy Kuster Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. If successful she could become pregnant and carry her child in the same womb that she herself was carried in. The mother and daughter hope the procedure could happen in Sweden next spring. The pair has undergone tests to ascertain their suitability for the transplant operation.

Eva, who moved to England from Sweden three years ago, said, “From the start when we realized what her condition was she [Sara] has always been talking about adoption. Then this opportunity came along last autumn. So I think there are loads of young women out there, who for one reason or another can't get their own babies and if this could be some way of doing it in the future, why not? Both I and my daughter are rational about it. It's just an organ like a kidney or whatever. She needs it, I have it. I don't need it anymore. I can't see the ethical problems about it really.”

If successful, Sara will have her own eggs fertilized using her boyfriend's sperm which will then be implanted into the womb. But Dr Mats Brannstrom, who leads the medical team, has warned the operation is far from easy. He says the procedure is one of the most complex operations in modern medicine, and is much more difficult than transplanting a kidney, liver or heart. “The difficulty with it is avoiding hemorrhage and making sure you have long enough blood vessels to connect the womb,” he said.

The only previous womb transplant widely reported occurred in 2000, in Saudi Arabia. A womb from a 46-year-old was given to a 26-year-old but it had to be removed 99 days later because of complications.

Sara says, “At the moment I am trying not to get my hopes up so that I am not disappointed.” If things don't work out, she will adopt.