Yemi Adebowale
A team of surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic have performed the first uterus transplant in the United States. A 26-year-old woman underwent the nine-hour operation on Wednesday, setting the stage for a future pregnancy—and what might possibly become a routine procedure in US hospitals.
The unidentified woman, who received the transplanted uterus from a deceased organ donor, is currently in stable condition. Cleveland Clinic doctors are closely monitoring her health, but are making no further comments for the time being. The surgery was led by Dr. Andreas G. Tzakis, who has performed thousands of organ transplants over his career.
Prior to the operation, Tzakis traveled to Sweden, where he worked with doctors at the University of Gothenburg—the only other facility in the world to have performed successful uterus transplants. Thus far, they’ve done nine transplants, with the uteruses coming from living donors. At least four of these transplants have resulted in babies.
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