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first baby to be born after a womb transplant in this country
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Yeah, this is the most amazing, heartwarming story, isn't it? I mean, it's an absolute first for science in the UK
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Of course, it's not actually the first in the world. Actually, there have been 65 children born through womb transplants
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But this is going to be... Not only is this wonderful for the family concerned
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and what a sister, what an elder sister to donate her womb
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But there's 15,000 women in the UK who suffer from this Meyer-Rokitansky-Küsterhauser syndrome where they might have healthy ovaries, but unfortunately the womb doesn't work
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Real ray of hope for them. The real hero here, I think, as well as the sister, is Professor Richard Smith from the Imperial NHS Trust
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He spent 26 years developing this, started a charity, Womb Transplant UK
0:55
So this was all paid for through his charity. Doctors gave up their time for free
1:01
17 hours of surgery, not for the faint-hearted, but lovely result. And the baby is named after the sister, Amy, who donated her womb
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And her middle name is Isabel, who's after the surgeon, who essentially transplanted that womb
1:17
And to do that, you had to connect all of the tiny little blood vessels with minuscule stitches
1:22
I mean, it's incredible, isn't it? It really is. It is incredible. But, Anna, I put it to you
1:27
What would you say to people who would say what is the point of this Because you not going to be able to provide this on the NHS We can afford to Well as I said that was one of my first thoughts I have to say
1:40
when I was looking through this. And the fact that this professor has spent 26 years
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and actually started a charity, there are going to be a few more of these coming
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but they're not going to be funded by the NHS. They are going to be funded by charity
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which I think is at this stage in the game a very good thing
2:01
but it's only if we actually stretch the boundaries. You never know where these incredible surgical advances are going to end
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Think about heart transplants. We can all remember when we were young
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learning about the very first heart transplant and how many were unsuccessful
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and now it's not routine but now that is something which happens world over
2:22
That's absolutely right. Medical advances bring within our reach things that we thought were never in our grasp
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And this is the start. It's understandable that these procedures, extraordinary procedures which bring such joy to people
2:36
will be funded by charity. But you'd hope over time that these are the sorts of things
2:40
that the NHS would look at seriously. And that's where we want to get to, really
2:45
because if you think, as you say, if you think back in history, there's been all kinds of advances that no-one ever thought possible
2:50
which has now become routine and everyday. And that is a good thing, and it is a reminder that we can
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With all the doom and gloom in the world, we can still do amazing things
2:59
It's a great story, isn't it? Yeah. And for women as well that have had cancer and endometriosis and have had their womb removed as well
3:05
a ray of hope for them as well. Absolutely. So it's a great story this morning
