First womb-transplant baby born

A woman in Sweden has given birth to a baby boy using a transplanted womb, in a medical first, doctors report.

The 36 year-old mother, who was born without a uterus, received a donated womb from a friend in her 60s.

 
The British medical journal The Lancet says the baby was born prematurely in September weighing 1.8kg (3.9lb). The father said his son was "amazing".

Cancer treatment and birth defects are the main reasons women can be left without a functioning womb.

If they want a child of their own, their only option is surrogacy.

The identity of the couple in Sweden has not been released, but it is known the mother still had functioning ovaries.

The couple went through IVF to produce 11 embryos, which were frozen. Doctors at the University of Gothenburg then performed the womb transplant.

The donor was a 61-year-old family friend who had gone through the menopause seven years earlier.