Uterus Transplant Recipient Gives Birth to Baby in Medical Milestone for U.S.

In what officials are calling a medical breakthrough, a uterus transplant recipient had a baby in a first of its kind live birth here in the U.S., it was confirmed Friday.

The woman received the transplant as part of a years-long study at Baylor University Medical Center that enrolled up to 10 women for transplants. 

The hospital did not reveal the identity of the woman, who was born without a womb, due to medical privacy concerns. 

"This first live birth to a uterus transplant recipient in the United States was a milestone in our work to solve absolute uterine factor infertility; but, more importantly, a beautiful moment of love and hope for a mother who had been told she would never be able to carry her own child," Giuliano Testa, MD, principal investigator of the uterine transplant clinical trial at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, said in a statement.

The researchers were expected to hold a news conference Monday to discuss the Dallas baby's birth.

In October 2016, the hospital said four women had received transplants but that three of the wombs had to be removed because of poor blood flow. 

The hospital gave no further information on how many transplants have been performed since. 

While first in the U.S., live births have occurred outside the country before.

Dr. Mats Brannstrom was the first to deliver a baby to a woman with a donated womb in Sweden. 

He has since delivered five such babies.