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Doctor planning world’s first womb transplant to allow trans woman to have a baby

Published 10:41 9 May 2022 BST

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The procedure is yet to have been done successfully

A surgeon based in India is hoping to achieve the world's first womb transplant on a trans patient who was born male but wants to give birth to her own child. Dr Narendra Kaushik, who is based at the new purpose-built Olmec clinic in New Delhi, aims to become the first medical professional to successfully pull off the risky transplant procedure by using organs from a dead female donor or from another individual transitioning from woman to man. "Every transgender woman wants to be as female as possible and that includes being a mother", says Kaushik, per the Mirror. He adds that a uterine transplant should be "the same as a kidney or any other transplant". "This is the future. We cannot predict exactly when this will happen but it will happen very soon. We have our plans and we are very very optimistic about this." As alluded to above, patients would require an intact womb taken from a deceased individual or someone who has received a hysterectomy as part of their own transition. They would then go on to have IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment like any other individual who is not otherwise able to get pregnant. While the likes of TV personality Jessica Alves have already attempted to undergo the risky surgery - Kaushik states that 20 percent of those flying overseas are from the UK - a successful womb transplant is yet to have been performed successfully He insists that despite no transgender patients having yet benefitted from the operation, he believes it is "the future" for transgender women and those with gender dysphoria and while he admits "we cannot predict exactly when this will happen", the likes of his team are optimistic and believe it will be possible soon.