“There is nothing more important to me than carrying my own baby for nine months in my womb,” says the 26-year-old woman, who is one of the three patients lined up for a uterus transplant in Pune’s Galaxy Care Hospital.
A resident of Baroda, hers will be the first transplant in India to take place on May 18. Her 41-year-old mother is the one donating her the uterus. “I want to have a grandchild. I am doing this for my daughter. There was not much to think,” she says in Gujarati. The mother and daughter care least about the medical feat they are part of. For them, a baby of their own is what matters. “The doctors had given me the option of surrogacy and adoption as well. But I simply never felt inclined for these options,” says the woman whose first baby was a still birth. After that she had three miscarriages. About two years ago, a medical examination revealed that her uterus was completely damaged and she could never carry a pregnancy.
When the Pune hospital was preparing for the uterus transplants, the Baroda woman, who happened to have come there for an opinion looked like a candidate. “I know that it is a new procedure. The doctors have given me every bit of information about it. My family and I have decided to go for it,” she says, adding that her 38-year-old husband, who is into a beauty products business, is also in her support. “I think my biggest happiness lies in having my own baby. I am not thinking about anything else.”
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A 12-member team headed by surgeon Dr. Shailesh Puntambekar, who is the medical director of the hospital, are now busy with the preparations for the surgeries. While two surgeries are scheduled for May 18 and 19, the date for the third one is yet to be fixed.
Besides the surgical aspects, the counselling and psychiatric evaluation of the donor and the recipient was carried out. “We had to know if the husband and wife are in a stable relationship. The donor was evaluated to ensure that she is not under any kind of pressure to give the organ. They were explained every bit in detail,” said gynaecologist Dr. Kajal Parikh, who is part of the transplant team. The other two patients are from Maharashtra. The three surgeries are being carried out free of cost.
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The news of the womb transplants has sparked a debate about its viability given that it is a high-risk procedure and involves several interventions. The procedure is a temporary solid organ transfer. Once pregnancy is attained, the uterus is removed so that the woman does not have to be on immunosuppressant drugs. A centre in Bangalore has also received permission and has lined up two patients for the transplants. “For some women, carrying a baby in their own womb is very important. Over all in the treatment of infertility, uterine transplants may have a very small place. However, in the long run after we do many such patients, the procedure will have a definitive place,” said gynaecologist Dr. Milind Telang, who is also part of the Pune team.