A baby boy has become the first child in the UK to be born to a mother who received a womb transplant from a deceased donor.

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Grace Bell gave birth to her son, Hugo Powell, at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea hospital in London, marking a medical milestone reported by The Guardian. Hugo was delivered weighing 3.09kg (6lb 13oz). His birth follows a transplant procedure in which Bell received a uterus from a donor who had died.

A Rare Procedure

According to The Guardian, this is the first time in the UK that a baby has been born following a womb transplant from a deceased donor. Only two similar cases have previously been recorded in Europe.

Bell, an IT programme manager, was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser MRKH syndrome, a rare condition in which the womb is absent or underdeveloped. As a teenager, she was told she would not be able to carry a pregnancy.

She described her son’s arrival as life-changing. “I never, ever thought that this would be possible. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” Bell said.

Years In The Making

The procedure is the result of years of work by a specialist medical team. Consultant Richard Smith, who was present at the birth, reflected on the long process behind the breakthrough.

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“It’s been an unbelievable journey. Our whole team has been hanging together now for years and years to make this happen. So to me it’s been fantastic, just amazing,” he told PA Media.

Doctors plan to remove the transplanted womb once Bell and her partner decide their family is complete, allowing her to stop taking immunosuppressant medication required to prevent organ rejection.

Donation And Ethics

The UK’s first womb transplant took place in 2023, when another MRKH patient received a uterus from her sister in a living donation.

Globally, around 25 to 30 babies have been born following womb transplants from deceased donors. Most procedures worldwide involve living donors, while roughly one-third use organs from those who have died.

In the UK, womb donation is not included in standard organ donor registration or deemed consent arrangements. Families must give specific approval for the uterus to be donated.