Woman, 22, who underwent world's first successful womb transplant to have IVF baby

A woman who had the world’s first successful womb transplant is set to undergo IVF in a bid to fulfil her dream of motherhood. Thousands of British women born without a womb will be given hope if the breakthrough treatment succeeds. Speaking in London last week, her surgeon Professor Omer Ozkan revealed that the married housewife has responded so well to treatment that his medical team is confident the first ‘donor womb’ pregnancy is now possible.

 But some British experts, including Lord Winston, claim that a pregnancy could cause potentially fatal complications. And the baby would have to be born by caesarean, which carries the risks of surgery. Prof Ozkan, who performed the pioneering transplant on 22-year-old Derya Sert in August last year, announced her IVF treatment at a conference attended by the world’s top transplant specialists.

 The event was organised by Richard Smith, a consultant at Imperial College London who could be ready to perform similar operations on British women in just two years. Prof Ozkan, from Akdeniz University in Antalya, Turkey, also revealed three more women are to undergo transplants at his clinic, providing Mrs Sert has a healthy baby. 

Prof Ozkan said: ‘This is the longest time any woman has gone without rejecting an implanted womb and we wanted to reach the year-and-a-half mark before going ahead. That will hopefully happen in three months’ time as things are looking good so far.’ He described Mrs Sert’s health as ‘absolutely normal’, adding: ‘It’s not only important for us to have this contact for the patient, it’s also important for future cases.’ 

Mrs Sert, who is married to 35-year-old Mustafa, has said: ‘If I had a magic wand, I would want to be pregnant now. I just want to hold my baby in my arms, to be a mother.’ Prof Ozkan and his team will take two out of eight embryos frozen before Mrs Sert’s treatment, thaw them and transfer them into her uterus. The hope is this will lead to at least one baby – or even twins. 

 There are at least 15,000 women in Britain alone who were born without a womb or who have had theirs removed as a result of cancer or other medical issues. TV presenter Yvette Fielding revealed in 2009 that she had undergone a hysterectomy to stop her agonising periods.

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