Cleveland Clinic Performs First Successful Uterus Transplant In The U.S.

The Cleveland Clinic says it has performed the first uterus transplant in the United States.

This opens up another possible path to parenthood besides surrogacy or adoption for U.S. women who do not have a uterus, or who have a uterus that does not function.

The transplant happened during a nine-hour-long surgery on a 26-year-old patient, who the clinic did not identify. The clinic says the patient is in stable condition and that the transplanted uterus came from a deceased donor.

This is a major step in the clinic's transplant study for women with Uterine Factor Infertility or UFI, meaning "they were born without a uterus, have lost their uterus, or have a uterus that no longer functions."

This is how the process goes from here, according to general information released by the clinic about their trial: They expect the transplanted uterus to take approximately one year to heal. Then, doctors will implant embryos one-by-one that were created using in vitro fertilization before the uterus transplant. The patient will be taking anti-rejection drugs throughout pregnancy.

And the clinic...