A baby boy has become the first child in the UK to be born to a motherwho received a womb from a deceased donor.
Hugo Powell was born in December, weighing 6lb 13oz (3.1kg), to Grace Bell and Steve Powell, following a landmark transplant that took place at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Ms Bell, an IT programme manager, was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH), a rare condition that results in underdevelopment of the uterus, which she was diagnosed with aged 16.
She said that the birth of baby Hugo was “simply a miracle”.
“I never, ever thought that this would be possible,” said Ms Bell. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Since I was 16, I never thought this was going to be possible. So it really is a miracle. It just felt quite unreal at the time, because this has been a long journey for us both.
“I remember waking up in the morning and seeing his little face, with his little dummy in, and it felt like I needed to wake up from a dream.”
Ms Bell added that she thinks of her womb donor every day.
“There are no words to say thank you enough to my donor and her family. I hope they know that my child will always know of their incredible gift, and the miracle that brought him into this world,” she said.
“I think of my donor and her family every day and pray they find some peace in knowing their daughter gave me the biggest gift, the gift of life. A part of her will live on for ever.”
Womb transplants from deceased donors can only happen when relatives of the person who has died are asked specifically if they wish to donate their womb; they are not covered by the normal consent for donation, or by joining the organ donor register, or by deemed consent, which presumes people want to donate unless they opt out.
The donor, who has not been named, saved other lives, too, as five more of her organs were transplanted into four people.
The donor’s parents said: “Losing our daughter has shattered our world in ways we can barely put into words. The grief is overwhelming and the ache of her absence is something we will carry forever. Yet even in this unimaginable pain, we’ve found a small measure of solace in knowing that her final act, her choice, was one of pure generosity.”
Isabel Quiroga, consultant surgeon and clinical lead for organ retrieval at the Oxford Transplant Centre, part of Oxford University Hospitals, carried out the seven-hour womb transplant on Ms Bell in 2024. Several months later, Ms Bell underwent fertility treatment at the Lister Fertility Clinic in London.
While Ms Bell and Mr Powell may decide to have a second baby, surgeons will have to remove the transplanted womb eventually, or the new mother might have to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of her life, which carries its own risks.
Womb Transplant UK has now performed and paid for five womb transplants in the UK so far – two involving live donors and three involving deceased donors. Two babies have been born, and three transplant patients have not had babies yet, but are undergoing private IVF.
“They have functioning transplants,” Ms Quiroga said. “So far, we haven’t had any technical failures – and they are at different stages with IVF and embryo transfer.”
In 2023, another MRKH patient, Grace Davidson, had the UK’s first womb transplant from her older sister, Amy, in a living donation. She gave birth to her daughter Amy Isabel Davidson in February last year.
Becky Clarke, regional head of nursing for the Midlands and South Central organ donation teams at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Our specialist nurses for organ donation are highly trained, experienced nurses who will speak to families at the time their loved one has sadly died, and approach them around organ donation.
“They will check whether the person is on the organ donor register, and then speak with the family and see whether it’s something they’re in agreement with. Once we’ve ascertained that, then we would seek further consent from the families, and approach them if they want to consider, as an extra consent, to womb donation.
“Our experience of approaching the small number of families is the vast majority have immediately wanted to agree. They think it’s a wonderful thing to do.
“We are very grateful to any families who choose to give the additional consent for donation to this programme.”
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