First UK birth following womb transplant from dead donor

A boy named Hugo has become the first child in the UK to be born following a womb transplant from a dead donor.

His birth in December 2025 comes ten months after the UK's first baby born from a womb donation by a living donor (see BioNews 1285). Both families are part of a research programme run by the charity Womb Transplant UK, which aims to carry out 15 transplants – including ten from dead donors.

'Very few babies have been born in Europe as a result of their mothers receiving a womb from a deceased donor,' said Isabel Quiroga, a consultant transplant and endocrine surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, co-lead of the UK womb transplant research team. 'Our trial is seeking to discover whether this procedure could become an approved and regular treatment for some of the increasing number of women of child-bearing age who do not have a viable womb.'

Around 15,000 women in the UK cannot get pregnant because their uterus is absent or non-functional. Some, like Hugo's mother, Grace Bell, have Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, a condition where the uterus fails to develop; others face cancers or other conditions that damage or require removal of the organ.

'This is a huge milestone, giving more hope to women who do not have a womb and are looking to start a family,' explained Quiroga. 'This is the only treatment that gives them the ability to carry and give birth to their own child, offering another option alongside adoption or surrogacy.'

According to Womb Transplant UK, about 100 womb transplants have been carried out worldwide, mostly from living donors. Obtaining the organ from a dead donor avoids the physical and psychological risks faced by living donors, though the procedure remains experimental in the UK and is not NHS-funded.

Womb donation is not part of the standard UK organ donation process, and only a small number of eligible donor families are approached.

The family of the donor, who also provided organs to four other patients, said their daughter 'has given other families the precious gift of time, hope, healing and now life. As her parents, we feel tremendous pride at the legacy she leaves behind.'

Bell added: 'Their kindness and selflessness to a complete stranger is the reason I have been able to fulfil my lifelong dream of being a mum... I hope they know that my child will always know of their incredible gift, and the miracle that brought him into this world.'

As womb transplants advance, legal, ethical and policy questions remain, including how to decide who should benefit from this intervention when healthcare budgets are limited (see BioNews 1266).