India may get first baby from uterus transplantation by 2018: Brannstrom

March 04, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:38 am IST - Manipal:

Mats Brännström, a pioneer in uterus transplantation, said on Sunday that he was hopeful that the uterus transplantation procedure will gain popularity in the years to come and expected the first baby from uterine transplantation in India by 2018.

Addressing presspersons here on the sidelines of International Symposium on Fertility Preservation being organised by Department of Clinical Embryology, Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Dr. Brännström said that he had been approached by many couples in India, including from Bengaluru, wanting to pursue this line of treatment. He is presently working with a few centres in the country and is evaluating the possibility of these patients for this procedure.

He hoped that India would be the first South Asian country to achieve this benchmark. One in 4,000 girls are born without a uterus worldwide, he said.

It was under the care of Dr. Brännström, Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Gotheburg, Sweden, that a patient who received uterus transplantation was able to deliver a healthy baby, a first in the field.

He said the uterus in the case was donated by the patient’s 61-year-old mother. “This new development is a breakthrough and an alternative to surrogacy as it gives the patient an opportunity to experience the fulfilment of motherhood as surrogacy is not legally allowed in most countries,” he said. “This step comes after 13 years of thorough research in animal models,” explained Dr. Brännström.

At present, Dr. Brännström has had a success rate comparable to in vitro fertilisation.

G. Pradeep Kumar, Dean of KMC, present at the press meet, said, “For the first time an organ transplantation will help a patient to give birth to a new life.”

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