A Baroda based woman is to be the first woman in India to get her mother’s womb, reports The Indian Express.
India’s first uterus transplant is slotted for May 18 at the Galaxy Care Hospital in Pune. The 26 year old woman is said to have been in an out of hospitals during the eight years of her marriage so far. The woman has lost two babies after full-term pregnancies. In addition, she has had four abortions and a scarred uterus. “Atlu sehen karyu che, have sano dar (I have gone through a lot and am no longer worried),” she said.
“Mara chokri ne balak thay bas etla mate operation che (I am doing this so that my daughter can have her own child),” said her 44 year old mother.
Another woman to undergo transplant the next day
Another woman, named Swati(22) from Solapur would also undergo uterus transplant at the same hospital on May 19. Swati was born without a uterus.
“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,” said Swati’s 45-year-old mother.
Swati says that her husband is very supportive. The woman from Baroda works as a beautician and also had her husband accompanying her during the lengthy hospital sessions.
“My baby did not survive the first pregnancy as there was a cord around the neck, and the second pregnancy resulted in a still birth. I had painful abortions. For the last two years I have not been menstruating due to Asherman’s Syndrome. My husband has seen my pain,” said Swati.
Both of the women were admitted to the hospital on May 9. Doctors are doing everything to ensure successful transplants. “We have been planning the live donor uterine transplant for a year now,” Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, Medical Director at Galaxy Care Hospital, said. “The infrastructure is in place at the hospital, our team has perfected the technique. The facilities were inspected by a government team that granted permission to conduct uterine transplant.”
25 transplants have been done around the world
Globally, 25 uterine transplants have been conducted so far. The first successful transplant was performed in 2002 in Saudi Arabia. In Turkey, a transplant was done in 2011.In that case, the pregnancy lasted eight weeks. The uterus was procured from a cadaveric donor. In 2011, a transplant in Sweden resulted in a full-term pregnancy.
A whole floor of the Galaxy Hospital has been prepared for the transplant. The 12-member team who would assist in the operation includes endocrinologists, gunaecologists and IVF specialists. It’s said that the first three transplants would be conducted free of cost.
As per Dr Milind Telang, a gyanecologist in the team, uterine transplant is the most feasible among non-vital organ transplants. “Adoption leads to legal motherhood, surrogacy to biological child but transplant gives the mother legal, biological and gestational motherhood, thus giving the maximum satisfaction.”
With inputs from The Indian Express
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