Woman becomes pregnant through ovarian tissue transplant
An article published in the British Medical Journal tells that a Spanish woman from Barcelona, now aged 31 has become pregnant through transplanting ovarian tissue. This is the first known pregnancy to be achieved in this way.
by Louise-Anne Geddes, Mindful Mum, 6th January 2012
The procedure was carried out by a team of surgeons from the Sant Joan de Deu hospital and was led by Justo Celleio, clinical chief of the gynaecology and obstetrics department.
Groundbreaking
The patient had both of her ovaries removed in 2001 due to bilateral ovarian tumours. Some ‘viable’ tissue was able to be preserved by freezing, and was reimplanted when she chose to become pregnant in July 2011. In October, she menstruated for the first time in ten years and doctors were able to stimulate her ovarian tissue, producing two eggs. IVF was then performed on the eggs before they were transferred to her uterus.
In their article on Thursday, the BMJ reported that she is now eight to nine weeks pregnant and is due to give birth in July.
Worldwide, 13 healthy children are known to have been conceived through transplantation of ovarian tissue, but Calleio told the BMJ that:
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time in which [this procedure] is performed without [the patient] having any traces of ovarian tissue.” The woman, who was seven to eight weeks pregnant by the end of December, had both ovaries removed because of a bilateral mature teratoma”.
Source:
BMJ, Spanish woman becomes pregnant through ovarian tissue transplantation, 5 January 2012
Photography: Adam Selwood @Flickr
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