India is all set to mark its name in one of the very few countries that have practiced uterine transplant, a complex surgical procedure where a healthy uterus is transplanted into a female who either does not have a uterus or has a diseased one.
A 26-year-old woman in Baroda will be the first woman in the country to undergo the transplant, reports the Indian Express. She will get her mother's womb. The woman has suffered four abortions, two unsuccessful pregnancies and a scarred uterus. Now, to her rescue is her 44-year-old mother. The report quoted her as saying, "I am doing this so that my daughter can have her own child."
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A uterus transplant is expected to be performed on two women in Galaxy hospital soon.
Another woman, a 22-year-old homemaker was born without a uterus and did not realize it until after six months of marriage. She too is hoping to get a uterus transplanted from her mother.
“We thought it was a case of delayed menstruation. Six months after she got married, doctors told us she did not have a uterus. What is the use of my uterus? If I give it to my daughter, at least she can have her own child,” says her 45-year-old mother.
The purpose of a uterus is to hold the fertilized ovum nourishing the foetus
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After menopause however, the uterus holds no important purpose and many women suffering from ovarian cysts and fibroid have them removed.
But for women wanting to be mothers, uterus transplant is emerging as a new alternative to other means of child-bearing like adoption and surrogacy.
The world's first uterus transplant was performed in Saudi Arabia in 2002 from a 46-year-old woman to a 26-year-old who had a hysterectomy because of a hemorrhage after childbirth, but still hoped to have another baby but it failed as the woman could not get pregnant.
A transplant was also performed in Turkey but the pregnancy could only last eight weeks. It was in Sweden in 2011 that a uterus transplant was followed by a full-term pregnancy.
