Amy Isabel became the first child in the UK to be born following a womb transplant, joining dozens of other miracle babies around the world thanks to the pioneering surgery.
Grace Davidson gave birth after receiving a womb transplant from her older sister, Amy, in a groundbreaking procedure. She was born by planned NHS Caesarean section on February 27 at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London.
Mrs Davidson said she felt “shock” when she first held her daughter, adding: “We have been given the greatest gift we could ever have asked for.”
The 36-year-old was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH), a rare condition that affects around one in every 5,000 women, meaning they have an underdeveloped or missing womb. The ovaries are intact and still function to produce eggs and female hormones, making conceiving via fertility treatment a possibility.
However, this is not the first baby to be born following a womb transplant.
The first was in Sweden in 2014, when a 36-year-old mother who was born without a uterus received a donated womb from a friend in her 60s.
The woman, who remained anonymous, gave birth to a child prematurely weighing 1.8kg (3.9lb), according to the British medical journal The Lancet.
Since then, around 135 such transplants have been carried out in more than a dozen countries, including the US, China, France, Germany, India and Turkey.
As a result of these pioneering surgeries around 65 babies have been born around the world.
In March 2023 Prue Craven, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, received a womb transplant.
A year later, the 37-year-old said she felt “whole” when she welcomed her daughter Rose into the world.
Ms Craven discovered she had never developed a uterus aged 17 and was diagnosed with MRKH syndrome.
After attempting surrogacy in Thailand and looking into adoption in the UK, Ms Craven and her husband Tom moved back to Australia where they explored transplants.
Ms Craven’s mother was first in line to be a donor, but she was not a match. However, Lifelong friend Madonna Corstorphan, 57, stepped in.
The women endured a marathon 14-hour operation to complete the uterus transplant.
Following the birth of her baby she told the BBC: “I could never have imagined when I was 17 that I would have a uterus transplanted into me and I would carry a baby to live birth and now have a child from it.
“Mentally and emotionally, it is like a part of me is being filled that has always been missing.”
Peyton Meave, 24, was the third mother in the US to deliver her baby, a girl named Emersyn Rae, in June 2019, after a womb transplant.
The mother who lives in Oklahoma, said having a child through participation in a US trail had been a “life-changing” experience, The Guardian reported.
However, her pregnancy was not straightforward, at 22 weeks she had unexplained bleeding, which doctors said was due to her having an incompetent cervix, which can cause it to open early – risking miscarriage and premature delivery.
Following bed rest she gave birth at 30 weeks. “She’s four now – as busy as can be and super healthy. She’s just the light of our lives,” she told the newspaper.
But due to the complex pregnancy, she decided to have the transplant removed.
Maria Montes was the second mother in Spain to welcome a child into the world following a womb transplant.
The baby, Manuel, was born at 37 weeks via a caesarean section and weighed 2.9kg, according to the Clinic Barcelona website.
It was all made possible thanks to Ms Montes’ mother who donated her uterus which was transplanted in April 2022.
Just two months after the surgery, Maria Montes had her first period and, after a few months the fertility treatment began.
Four days after the c-section, Ms Montes, Tono – the baby’s father - and Manuel were able to go home and start their new life.
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