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American Woman Born Without Uterus... How She Achieved the 'Miracle of Childbirth'

Received Uterus Transplant Through Donation
First Child Born via Surrogate Mother

In the United States, where the birth rate is declining every year, a woman born without a uterus successfully gave birth after receiving a donated uterus transplant.


According to CBS News on the 26th (local time), Mallory was diagnosed at the age of 17 that she could not biologically have children.


Mallory's diagnosis was Mayer-Rokitansky-K?ster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. It is a congenital condition where reproductive organs such as the uterus and vagina are underdeveloped or completely absent. Approximately one in 4,500 women suffer from this condition.


American Woman Born Without Uterus... How She Achieved the 'Miracle of Childbirth' A woman in the United States born without a uterus successfully gave birth after receiving a donated uterus transplant.
[Photo by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)]

After getting married, Mallory asked her sister to be a surrogate mother and raised her first daughter, then decided to have a second child. However, due to her sister's health issues, it became difficult to ask her to carry another child, and during this time, she became interested in uterus transplant surgery.


It takes between 2 to 5 years from uterus transplant surgery to giving birth. Immunosuppressants must be taken to prevent transplant rejection, and only several months after the surgery can embryos created through in vitro fertilization be implanted into the uterus.


Moreover, after giving birth, if no more children are planned, the uterus must be removed again.


American Woman Born Without Uterus... How She Achieved the 'Miracle of Childbirth' Despite these difficulties, Mallory headed to Birmingham, Alabama two years ago upon hearing the news that she could receive a uterus donation. There, she joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) program and, after a total of 18 months of a "long journey," safely welcomed her second son in May.
[Photo by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)]

Despite these difficulties, Mallory traveled to Birmingham, Alabama two years ago upon hearing that she could receive a uterus donation. There, she joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) program and, after a total of 18 months of a "long journey," safely gave birth to her second son last May.


She said, "There were many hardships, but I accepted it because I knew this was the only moment I could be pregnant, and how lucky I was to have this experience."


Meanwhile, the first successful birth after a uterus transplant was in Sweden in 2014. In the United States, the first uterus transplant surgery was attempted in 2016 but failed, and in 2017, a woman participating in a clinical trial in Texas successfully gave birth with a transplanted uterus.


Mallory is the first case to successfully undergo uterus transplant surgery and give birth outside of clinical trials. According to UAB, as of the end of 2020, about 100 uterus transplant surgeries had been performed worldwide.


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