Baby born from womb of dead donor for 1st time in US history: Hospital

Doctors have delivered a baby to a woman who received a womb transplant from a dead organ donor for the first time in U.S. history.

The baby girl was born via cesarean section at the Cleveland Clinic in June as part of an ongoing clinical trial for uterine transplants to treat uterine factor infertility, hospital officials announced Tuesday.

An estimated one in 500 women of child-bearing age are affected by the irreversible condition, according to the hospital. The mother, who is in her mid-30s, became pregnant through in vitro fertilization.

Mother and daughter are "doing great," said Dr. Uma Perni, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at the Cleveland Clinic.

"We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome," Perni said.

The research team for the delivery consisted of specialists in transplant surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, fertility, neonatology, bioethics, psychiatry, nursing, anesthesiology, infectious disease, interventional radiology, patient advocacy and social work.

"It was amazing how perfectly normal this delivery was, considering how extraordinary the occasion," said Dr. Andreas Tzakis, a transplant surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. "Through this research, we aim to make these extraordinary events, ordinary for the women who choose this option. We are grateful to the donor and her family, their generosity allowed our patient’s dream to come true and a new baby to be born."

The trial aims to enroll 10 women between the ages of 21 and 39. Unlike other similar research efforts in the U.S., the clinic's protocol requires that the transplanted uterus comes from a deceased donor to "eliminate any risk to a healthy, living donor."

Since the clinical trial began, the team has competed five uterus transplants, according to the hospital. Three transplants were successful, and two resulted in hysterectomies.

Two women are currently awaiting embryo transfers, and several more candidates are on the list to receive a transplant.