On Feb. 17, 2020, the University of Gothenburg announced that the team responsible for uterine transplantation research has, for the first time, transplanted a uterus from a deceased donor. The operation proceeded without complications and the recipient is doing well.

The transplant was done in December 2019 under the supervision of Mats Brännström, consultant physician and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Gothenburg. The research team plan to carry out another five transplants of a deceased donor’s uterus in the course of 2020 and 2021.

To date, three babies in the world have been born after transplantation of the uterus of a deceased donor: one in Brazil, followed by two in the U.S.

Every previous uterine transplant in Sweden has involved a living donor — often the recipient’s mother, and in some cases a close friend. The purpose of trying out the new method is to expand the range of options ahead of the possible establishment of uterine transplantation as a treatment. The number of potential donors would then increase. Even a woman with no suitable donor close to her could be considered for transplantation. Moreover, there is no need for a living donor to undergo anesthesia and surgery.

The donor in the present case was a woman who had previously given birth, and was of fertile age at the time of her sudden death. Her survivors were asked about her attitude toward organ donation, as always when a potential donor is not listed in the donation register.

The 30-year-old woman uterus recipient was called to Sahlgrenska University Hospital for her operation at short notice. She was able to go home after five days, and is now being monitored and receiving care in the same way as every other woman with a transplanted uterus in Sweden.

The plan is, ten months after surgery, to initiate attempts to make the woman pregnant. This will be done by inserting into her transplanted uterus an embryo that has come into being through in vitro fertilization (IVF) before the transplantation.