First uterine transplant performed in France: 5 amazing facts about this revolutionary technique

This is a great first in France. Sunday, March 31, a uterine transplant was performed at the hospital Foch Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine), by the team of Professor Jean-Marc Ayoubi, head of department of gynecology obstetrics and reproductive medicine of this establishment. An operation thanks to which the patient, aged 34, should be able to have a child. Here are 5 amazing infos about this intervention.

The donor is the mother of the patient

The 57-year-old living donor of the uterus is the mother of the patient. The latter, aged 34, has Rokitansky's syndrome (MRKH). She was born without uterus, like one in 4,500 women. She was chosen from among 120 other patients, after multiple exams, as Le Parisien specifies. The two women, whose identity has not been revealed, are doing well.

This is a temporary transplant

Unlike conventional grafts, this uterine graft is temporary. And for good reason: as the goal of the patient is to have a child and the anti-rejection treatment is heavy, the transplant is not intended to be permanent after pregnancy. A pregnancy that could soon become a reality, because the embryo transfer could be done within 10 months.

The operation lasted 14 hours

This uterine transplant, divided into two procedures, lasted 14 hours. The longest of the two is none other than the first, the levy. Realized with the help of a robot, it must be particularly meticulous so that the uterus is relocatable. The second part of the procedure, the graft, is performed by conventional surgery and lasts between three and four hours.

This is an experimental alternative to surrogacy

Surrogacy (GPA) involves the use of a surrogate mother to carry a baby for a couple to whom the child is born at birth. A practice authorized in some countries like the United States, but prohibited in France, in the name of the principle of unavailability of the human body. This temporary transplant of uterus which aims to have a child is therefore an alternative to GPA.

This type of transplant has already allowed births

If this uterine transplant is unpublished in France, it has already been performed in other countries and allowed births. The first birth after a uterine transplant dates back to 2014, in Sweden. In all, no less than 16 births were obtained worldwide after such an intervention: nine in Sweden, two in the United States, one in Brazil, one in Serbia, one in China and one in India, and now one in France. .

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