London– In a historic medical milestone, a woman in Britain has given birth following a womb transplant, Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London confirmed on Tuesday.
Grace Davidson, 36, from southern England, was born without a functioning uterus. That changed in early 2023 when she became the first woman in the UK to receive a womb transplant, thanks to her sister Amy, who donated her uterus through the Womb Transplant UK living donor program.
According to a 2023 report in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the donor and transplant surgeries were carried out at the Oxford Transplant Centre, part of Churchill Hospital at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH).
Following the successful transplant, Grace underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) at HCA UK’s Lister Fertility Clinic in London. Throughout her pregnancy, she received close monitoring at both Churchill Hospital and Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, where she ultimately gave birth.
The baby girl was delivered via cesarean section in February 2025. Both mother and baby are doing well, the hospital said in a statement.
Grace and her husband Angus named their daughter Amy Isabel—in honor of her sister Amy, the womb donor, and Miss Isabel Quiroga, one of the lead surgeons on the transplant team.
“The birth of the first UK baby following a womb transplant is a remarkable milestone in reproductive medicine,” said Dr. Ippokratis Sarris, Consultant in Reproductive Medicine, Director of King’s Fertility, and Executive Committee Member of the British Fertility Society. “While this complex procedure will only be suitable for a small number of women, it represents an extraordinary advance in science and patient care.”
An estimated 1 in 5,000 women in the UK are born without a viable womb, making natural conception and pregnancy impossible. Others may lose their uterus due to cancer or other serious medical conditions.
To date, more than 100 womb transplants have been performed worldwide, resulting in the births of over 50 healthy babies, according to Xinhua News Agency. The first successful womb transplant surgeries were conducted in 2013 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Womb Transplant UK, the charity behind the living donor program, funds transplant surgeries through public donations and also supports ongoing research efforts. It currently backs two initiatives: a live donor program covering five transplants and a deceased donor research program, approved by the Health Research Authority, which aims to perform 10 transplants.
Professor Richard Smith, co-leader of the UK living donor program and founder and chair of Womb Transplant UK, said in a statement:
“This moment represents the culmination of over 25 years of research and collaboration among many talented individuals, hospitals, and organizations working with our charity.”
“Our charity-funded program is still in its early stages,” he added. “But we’re hopeful that we can help more women in the near future who are currently unable to conceive or carry a child.” (Source: IANS)
