Just weeks after the transplant Kirsty is now seven weeks pregnant (Picture: Sylvia Jeffreys)
An Australian woman who hoped to carry a baby in the same womb she was grown in following a transplant from her mother is now pregnant.
Kirsty Bryant became the first woman in the country to receive a uterine transplant following mammoth operations for both her and her mother Michelle Hayton, 54, at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney this year.
Bryant, 30, was unable to carry children following an emergency hysterectomy after the birth of her daughter, Violet, two years ago.
Just weeks after the transplant Kirsty is now seven weeks pregnant.
‘I was just super excited when I found out,’ she told ABC. ‘It almost feels like it’s meant to be, but it’s still sinking in that I am going to have another baby at the end of the year. It’s so wonderful that my body can do this and that my mum has given me this gift,’
Kirsty Bryant became the first woman in Australia to receive a uterine transplant (Picture: https://www.youtube.com/@60MinutesAU/videos 60minsaustralia)
‘Mum is very excited. She can’t wait to welcome another grandchild into the family … she is over the moon.’
Rebecca Deans, the gynaecologist leading the trial, said medics are keeping all their ‘fingers and toes crossed’.
‘We had to monitor her really closely for rejection of the uterus and she’s had absolutely no signs of rejection, so she’s been really fortunate in that regard,’ said Deans.
The baby is due in December but Kirsty will be monitored closely till then as its a high risk pregnancy.
She doesn’t have nerves connected to the transplanted uterus, so she won’t be able to feel contractions if she goes into labour. Instead she will need to be monitored every two weeks from her 18th week of pregnancy. At 37 weeks, she’s expected to have a caesarean section.
The baby is due in December but Kirsty will be monitored closely till then as its a high risk pregnancy (Picture: https://www.youtube.com/@60MinutesAU/videos 60minsaustralia)
‘Violet is very excited to have a brother or a sister,’ Kirsty said. “She hasn’t decided which she’d prefer. She just keeps asking for a baby. My husband is stoked. I think it’s still a bit surreal for him, too,’
‘People keep saying it’s a miracle, but I try to remind them, @No it’s science. Science has got me here”.’
Uterus transplants are temporary measures expected to last about five years for women who are hoping to carry more children.
Caption: Whoman who received uterus transplant from mum gets pregnant
picture: Nick Bryant
METROGRAB
According to Deans, there have been about 80 uterus transplants carried out around the world so far, and about 40 live births as a result. Babies have now also been born from the wombs of deceased patients, rather than live donors.
‘After our research we will review our findings and then hopefully offer [uterus transplant] as a treatment in Australia for women who are either born without a uterus or who have lost their uterus and want to be a parent,’
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Just weeks after the transplant Kirsty is now seven weeks pregnant.
