Information revealed by France Inter. A woman born without a uterus received a transplant from her mother’s.
After a first in 2019, a second in 2022, a third uterus transplant was carried out in France on October 21 at the Foch hospital in Suresnes in Hauts-de-Seine, France Inter revealed on Tuesday November 7. The operation lasted no less than 18 hours with a total of twenty caregivers in the operating room.
Doctors first removed the uterus of Gaétane, 57, to transplant it into his daughter Océane, aged 30. Océane suffers from Rokitansky syndrome (MRKH), responsible for infertility due to uterine agenesis (she was born without a uterus), which affects approximately one in 4,000 baby girls born. “I still have an organ from my mother in me, which is still quite a strong symbol”, she commented on France Inter. It is indeed in this same organ that Océane grew up. She must now wait a minimum of six months before she can attempt an embryo transfer. But now, her desire for pregnancy is no longer a dream.
Around a hundred girls are born without a uterus every year
In France, a third baby was born last Tuesday, a little Léonie. Her mother, Anaïs, was the second woman to receive a uterus, this time from her sister. Leonie “should never have been there, if it wasn’t for this medical technique, if it wasn’t for my sister. We are extremely happy that she is here”rejoiced Anaïs.
Jean-Marc Ayoubi is the obstetrician-gynecologist behind these three transplants. Through this research protocol, he hopes to improve this technique to make it more accessible. “It is clear that this technique is better mastered, simpler and we hope to evolve it towards an even more simplified technique”, explains the doctor to France Inter. “There is no question of giving too much false hope to all women who were born without a uterus. And even if it remains a major operation, the more we practice it, the more we improve the technique,” he continues.
More than a hundred little girls are born without a uterus each year in France. These medical feats are therefore an immense reason for hope for them. Worldwide, around a hundred operations of this type have already been carried out and around fifty children worldwide have been born to a mother who received a uterus transplant.