First Uterus Transplant in United States Performed at Cleveland Clinic

The first uterus transplant in the United States was performed this week by surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic, a possible first step in revolutionizing infertility.

The nine-hour operation took place on Wednesday with an unnamed 26-year-old patient receiving a uterus from a deceased donor, The New York Times reported. The patient was reported to be in stable condition.

The recipient will have to wait a year before trying to get pregnant, and must do so using in vitro fertilization, according to the newspaper. The temporary transplant will be removed after the patient has had one or two babies.

“I want the morning sickness, the backaches, the feet swelling. I want to feel the baby move. That is something I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember,” the patient told The Times in November, when the Cleveland Clinic announced that it would perform uterus transplants on 10 women who were born without uteruses or had to have them removed.

Before this week's procedure, the woman’s eggs were harvested, fertilized, and frozen, CNN reported. She must now take anti-rejection drugs, and any future pregnancies will be closely monitored.

Doctors at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg have performed nine uterus transplants, resulting in five pregnancies and four live births to date, CNN said.

"The exciting work from the investigators in Sweden demonstrated that uterine transplantation can result in the successful delivery of healthy infants," Andreas Tzakis, the lead investigator in the Cleveland study, said, according to the news site.

The Cleveland Clinic said researchers are screening future transplant candidates with uterine factor infertility (UFI), an irreversible condition affecting 3 to 5 percent of women worldwide.

A news conference with the medical team will be scheduled next week in Cleveland.