Turkish womb transplant patient is pregnant

13 April 2013 - 14:40 By Reuters
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The next-highest rate in the world is between 1% and 3% in the US and France. In Sweden, by comparison, the rate is 1.2%.
The next-highest rate in the world is between 1% and 3% in the US and France. In Sweden, by comparison, the rate is 1.2%.
Image: Gallo Images/Thinkstock

The first woman to have a successful womb transplant from a dead donor is pregnant, a hospital in southern Turkey said.

Derya Sert, 22, who was born without a womb, had been receiving in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment after the transplant in August 2011.

"Early test results are consistent with pregnancy. The patient is in good health at the moment. We will continue to update on developments in the coming period," Akdeniz University Hospital in Turkey's Mediterranean city of Antalya said in a statement late on Friday.

One in every 5,000 women globally is born without a womb, while thousands more have the organ removed due to cancer or other diseases, leaving them unable to get pregnant.

In September, doctors in Sweden performed the world's first mother-to-daughter womb transplants on two Swedish women, both in their 30s.

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