Mother to give daughter uterus in womb transplant

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A 25-year-old woman may become the first recipient of a successful womb transplant. The donor? Her mom. Eva Ottosson, 56, is prepared to give her daughter Sara her own reproductive organ in a radical medical procedure that could make medical history. 

If the surgery is successful, Sara might be able to carry a child in the samewomb that carried her. "She needs the womb and if I'm the best donor for her … well, go on. She needs it more than me. I've had two daughters so it's served me well," Eva, a UK-based store owner, told the London Telegraph. 

Sara was born without a uterus and as the ultimate act of maternal generosity her mother hopes to change that.  The transplant is set for the Spring of 2012 and will take place in Gottenburg, Sweden where researchers have been studying the potential for womb transplant for over 10 years now. 

In March, Mats Brannstrom, a scientist at the university, published a study announcing the potential for the medical breakthrough in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research, after successfully implanting wombs in mice, rats, sheep, and pigs. 

The operation has only been attempted in humans once in 2000 in Saudi Arabia. The organ failed after only 4 months and had to removed. 

12 years later, the prospect of success is marginally higher. But even if Sara's transplant is successful, she still isn't guaranteed fertility. 

After the surgery, Sara, a biology teacher living in Sweden,  plans to fertilize her eggs with her boyfriend's sperm and then have them implanted through IVF in her inherited uterus.

Next she has to worry about the reaction her body has to the immunosupressant drugs required after an organ transplant. Doctors must consider what kind of havoc the anti-rejection meds could wreak. If everything goes without a hitch, she's still likely to face another surgery to remove the womb after her child is born as a safety precaution. 

Then there's the issue of the surgery itself. According to Brannstrom, the operation is far more complicated than a kidney transplant and massive blood loss is a major concern.

''The difficulty with it is avoiding hemorrhage and making sure you have long enough blood vessels to connect the womb," Brannstrom told the Telegraph. "You are also working deep down in the pelvis area and it is like working in a funnel.''

While she faces a long road ahead, Sara's most concerned about her mom's well-being during the long experimental operation. Mom Eva is more matter of fact about the whole thing.  She says: "My daughter and I are both very rational people and we both think 'it's just a womb'." But if the operation is successful, the idea of a mother and daughter sharing a womb will literally be turned inside out.