DALLAS _ A team of Dallas doctors has achieved a significant milestone in an experimental surgery that is hoped will one day dramatically change the lives of women born with no uterus and other fertility issues.
In late November, a baby boy delivered at the Baylor University Medical Center became the first in the nation to be born to a mom whose reproductive organs had been implanted from another woman's body.
Only a handful of teams globally have ever attempted the controversial uterine transplant surgery. In 2016, Baylor became the first in the U.S. to try it, using organs donated by women who are not deceased.
Four women received a donated uterus in the study last year, and so far one has achieved the ultimate outcome: a baby.
That infant, delivered via C-section last month, is now the ninth in the world to result from the novel procedure. It's a major milestone that follows a yearslong journey by a determined multidisciplinary North Texas team, said transplant surgeon and lead investigator, Dr. Giuliano Testa.
A second woman in the trial is also currently pregnant, which means more good news could be delivered "soon," the transplant team revealed in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
It's a noteworthy advance that researchers believe could lead to treatment for thousands of women with infertility issues, like those who have uterine abnormalities or young women who had to undergo hysterectomies after a cancer diagnosis.
The woman enrolled in the Baylor study, whose identities remain anonymous, all suffer from absolute uterine infertility, meaning childbirth would never have been an option.
Many said they often felt incomplete, embarrassed and isolated until now, said Dr. Colin Koon a transplant team surgeon whose expertise is in gynecologic cancers.
"It gives hope to women who didn't feel like they had hope," he said.
