A 21-year-old woman from Solapur, born without a uterus, got a shot at motherhood as a dozen surgeon performed a surgery tirelessly for over 12 hours in which her mother's uterus was removed using laparoscopic surgery and transplanted in her body.
"The surgery was successful and we are ecstatic," was the first thing Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, medical director, Galaxy hospital could say.
Three years of preparation, practice on cadavers and permission from the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) in the state finally made the landmark procedure possible. The recipient who has never menstruated in her entire life will be monitored closely for the next six months to ensure that her body does not reject the organ.
"The surgery went well and both the donor and recipient are doing very well," Puntambekar said. The recipient has ovaries and her hormone function is normal. With the new uterus, she is expected to menstruate like any healthy woman. She will undergo an IVF procedure one year later using embryos already stored to enable her to have a baby.
Both the donor and the recipient will be shifted to the ICU. While the donor is expected to be able to take oral feeds in the next one day, the recipient will be given oral feeds for the next three days.
The hospital will carry out the second procedure on a 23-year-old woman from Gujarat on Friday. The donor in that case too is her mother. Both the surgeries are being done free of cost.
ABOUT THE SURGERY
- 12 surgeons were part of the 24-member team that included psychiatrist, nephrologist, cardiologist, intensivists, anesthesiologist and nurses
- Surgery was done pro bono and hospital brought new surgical equipment for the process
...& ANALYSIS
- With the procedure, India joins one of the few countries like US and Sweden which have successfully carried out the procedure
- The process, along with surrogacy, also raises ethical questions about motherhood
