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A woman named Jennifer Gobrecht gave birth to a son in November. Her son was the second baby in the United States who was born after using a transplanted uterus from a deceased donor, according to The New York Times.
What happened: Penn Medicine researchers announced that Gobrecht, 33, gave birth even though she was born without a uterus.
- Gobrecht received an organ transplant from a deceased donor under a research trial.
- Fast forward to now and Benjamin Thomas Gobrecht is born.
Reaction: Jennifer Gobrecht couldn’t believe what happened. She was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome, which means she was born with functional ovaries but not a full uterus.
- Gobrecht: “One of the hardest days of my life was when I was 17 years old and learned I would never be able to carry my own child. My husband and I have always wanted to grow our family, but we knew the limited options meant it might never happen. And now here we are, in spite of everything, holding our beautiful baby boy. Benjamin is a perfect miracle. It’s all thanks to a truly incredible team of doctors and nurses and the selfless donor who made my dream of motherhood come true. When I signed up for this trial, I hoped it would help my husband and me start a family, but I also strongly believe in helping others. My hope is that through this research, others with similar struggles will have the same opportunity.”
Analysis: Dr. Kathleen O’Neill said in a statement that this opens up a new pathway for those who are born with infertility problems.
- O’Neill: “For women with uterine factor infertility, uterus transplantation is potentially a new path to parenthood — outside of adoption and use of a gestational carrier — and it’s the only option which allows these women to carry and deliver their babies. While there are still many unknowns about uterus transplantation, we know now — as evidenced by Jen and baby Benjamin — that this is potentially a viable option for some women. Our collaboration with investigators at partnering institutions as well as with Jen and other brave patient pioneers in these clinical trials are helping us learn more about how to make uterus transplants safer, more effective, and available to more women.”
Flashback: The first person to receive a uterus from a deceased donor happened back in 2017, according to The New York Times. She gave birth to a 6-pound girl in Brazil. During summer 2019, a girl was born at the Cleveland Clinic after a uterus transplant from a deceased donor, too.