Can trans women get pregnant? Here’s everything you need to know about womb transplants
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A recent groundbreaking surgery in the UK has sparked conversations about the possibility of trans women being able to get pregnant in the future. The surgery, a womb transplant carried out by Imperial College London professor James Smith and his colleague Isabel Quiroga from the Oxford Transplant Centre, has raised hopes for trans women who dream of starting their own families.
In February 2023, a 34-year-old woman living in England underwent a womb transplant, becoming the first recipient of such a procedure in the UK. The surgery, which lasted over nine hours, was performed at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. The recipient, who has chosen to remain anonymous, received the transplant from her 40-year-old sister who had previously given birth to two children.
While this surgery marks a significant milestone in the field of reproductive medicine, the road to making womb transplants a reality for trans women is still long. According to Smith, there are several challenges that need to be addressed before such procedures can be performed on trans women. These challenges include differences in pelvic and vascular anatomy, the shape of the pelvis, and issues with the microbiome – the network of micro-organisms that live in the human body.
Smith estimates that it may take anywhere from 10 to 20 years before womb transplants can be successfully performed on trans women. He emphasized that there is currently no “technical feasibility” for such procedures due to the complex nature of the surgery and the need for further research and development.
Despite these challenges, the team behind the surgery remains optimistic about the future of womb transplants for trans women. The recipient of the UK’s first womb transplant has already stored embryos in preparation for undergoing IVF later in 2023. A medical report published in the Fertility and Sterility medical journal in January 2023 stated that the first uterus transplant in a transgender female in the 21st century is anticipated to take place within the next few years.
Dr. Narendra Kaushik, a surgeon based in New Delhi, India, has also expressed optimism about the future of womb transplants for trans women. With 15 years of experience in gender-affirming surgeries, Kaushik believes that transplanting uteruses into trans women is “the future.” He stated that while the exact timeline for when this will happen is uncertain, he is confident that it will happen soon.
Womb transplants are currently rare, costly, and experimental surgeries that typically rely on donor organs. They are often performed on individuals born without a uterus to enable them to become pregnant and give birth. The first successful womb transplant took place at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden in 2014, and since then, about 50 babies have been born worldwide as a result of womb transplants.
While the prospect of trans women being able to get pregnant through womb transplants is still a distant reality, the recent advancements in reproductive medicine offer hope for a future where all individuals, regardless of their gender identity, have the opportunity to experience the joys of parenthood. As researchers continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in the field of reproductive medicine, the dream of trans women being able to carry their own children may soon become a reality.
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