About 1 in every 5,000 women is born with a condition
called Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, which causes her
to be born without some parts of her reproductive system. For Swedish
25-year-old Sara Ottoson, that part was her uterus. But thanks to a
ground-breaking new procedure that doctors in her native country are
currently working on, Ottoson could soon be the world's first womb
transplant recipient. The donor? Her own mother, Eva.
If the operation is successful, Ottoson could bear children from the same womb that she herself was carried in - an incredible thought, but one that doesn't seem to phase the young woman.
"I'm a biology teacher and it's just an organ like any other organ," she told The Teleraph. "But my mum did ask me about this. She said, 'Isn't it weird?' And my answer is no. I'm more worried that my mum is going to have a big operation."
Like all surgeries, this one carries some risks. But Ottoson says she won't be devastated if the transplant doesn't work, and tells the paper that she is considering adoption if the operation fails. If it succeeds, however, it could open the door to all kinds of incredible possibilities, including fertility treatments and even sex changes that could allow transgender women to bear children.
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