A woman has been donated the exact womb she started life in thanks to her mother's bid to help her have another child.
Kirsty Bryant and her mum Michelle Hayton have undergone mammoth surgery in what marks Australia's first ever successful transplant of a uterus.
Michelle's womb was surgically removed and donated to daughter Kirsty so that the 30-year-old may have a child after having an emergency hysterectomy two years ago.
If all goes to plan, it may mean Kirsty's future child is grown in the same uterus as its mother was conceived in.
Mum Kirsty had to have drastic surgery to remove her womb following the birth of her daughter Violet two years ago.
Hoping to one day have a brother or sister for granddaughter Violet, selfless Michelle, 54, agreed to undergo 11 hour surgery at Sydney's Royal Hospital for Women.
Speaking to Channel 9, Michelle said: "Kirsty rang, she said to me, 'Hi, Mum. What do you think about having a hysterectomy and giving me your uterus?'‘
"I said, 'Yep it’s on. I have no problem with that'."
Surgeons worked to isolate Michelle's womb from the surrounding organs and interconnected blood vessels, before removing it from her body to be transplanted.
The incredible feat was performed by Dr Rebecca Deans and world-renowned surgeon Mats Brannstrom, who in 2014 carried out the world's first uterine transplant resulting in a child being successfully conceived.
Dr Brannstrom explained: "The problem is that there is a ureter on each side. And the ureter goes from the kidney to the bladder, and we cannot injure that."
Kirsty and Michelle say that, if all goes to plan and she is able to have another child, the story will make a great tale to tell the baby one day.
"I am going to potentially, all fingers and toes crossed, carry a baby in the same uterus, in the same womb I was growing in."
Dr Deans meanwhile described an "amazing buzz" after all went to plan, adding Kirsty was "doing beautifully".
"Personally, professionally, it was just incredible, and I think everyone felt the same,’ the surgeon said.
"There were so many components to the team, the nursing staff, the anaesthetists and everyone’s saying that they felt the same way, that they really felt like it was one of those moments you’ll reflect on professionally and never ever forget."
Both mum and daughter are now allowing their bodies to fully recover from the major surgery, and Kirsty says it will be a while before she is able to see if she can carry a baby.
There are currently six embryos in a lab waiting to be transferred with the hopes of Kirsty carrying a second pregnancy, with each carrying a 30 to 50% chance of success.
Michelle meanwhile says she suffered and infection after her surgery and is yet to regain any feeling in her bladder, but regrets nothing.
Similar surgery between a mother and daughter was carried out on a mother and daughter in Sweden in 2014, with the younger woman becoming the world's first to carry a child in the same womb she was carried in.
Womb transplants have been shown to have more than a 50% success rate when for the purpose of having a child, a study in the US between 2016 and 2021 found.
As well as live donors, babies have also been born from wombs donated after death.
Kirsty added: "To not put my hand up and give it a go, I think would be a massive regret for myself."
"Even if it doesn’t go to plan, the research and the information that they will get from this, in Australia, is going to be worth it.
"I just want to give hope and give options for other women out there."
