One in every 4,500 women is born without a uterus. Until recently, it was impossible for these women to carry their own children but breakthroughs in science have made womb transplants possible. In this exclusive report, filmed over nearly three years, we follow the first transplant in France.
Over 250 couples volunteered to participate in this experiment. Doctors selected Deborah, 33, and her mother, 59, who will donate her uterus, because of their compatibility and perfect health. The first stage is for Deborah to undergo IVF. The resulting embryos are then frozen, to be implanted after the transplant.
Weeks later, Deborah and her mother return to hospital for the transplant. The operations are extremely complex and take more than 16 hours. Then Deborah has to remain in hospital for two weeks to make sure her body does not reject the organ. Finally, in July 2020, the embryos are implanted. Nine months later, her miracle baby is born.
Twenty births have taken place globally since the first procedure was carried out in Sweden in 2014.
The idea of choosing your baby’s hair and eye colour, IQ, height, weight and talents fills most of us with a sense of horror, evoking memories of Nazi breeding programmes from the 1930s. Yet some are willing to overcome the taboo in a bid to create ‘the perfect child’.
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India is rapidly becoming the world’s baby factory. It’s one of the few countries in the world which authorises payment for surrogacy.
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