Photo by Megan Menegay on Unsplash (illustrative)
On 8 April 2025, NHS hospitals announced the first birth in the UK following a womb transplant. A 36-year-old woman named Grace, who was born without a functioning womb, had her daughter by caesarean section at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in London in February 2025.
Key facts
Grace received the womb from her sister Amy in early 2023, becoming the first woman in the UK to have a womb transplant, through the charity-funded Womb Transplant UK programme.
The baby, Amy Isabel, was named after her aunt and after surgeon Isabel Quiroga, who co-led the transplant operation.
About one in 5,000 women in the UK are born without a viable womb.
Worldwide, more than 100 womb transplants have led to more than 50 healthy babies.
Why it matters
Women born without a working womb have not been able to carry their own pregnancy. This birth shows that womb transplantation can work in the UK, opening a possible path to pregnancy for some of the thousands of women in that position.
Worth noting
The UK effort is a small research programme, planned for five living-donor and ten deceased-donor transplants, so womb transplants are not yet a routine NHS treatment. Each case also depends on IVF before a pregnancy can begin.