UK Woman Gives Birth Following First Successful Womb Transplant

A woman has made history by becoming the first person in the UK to give birth following a womb transplant.

After 25 years of dedicated scientific research, Grace Davidson, 36, successfully welcomed her baby girl, Amy Isabel Davidson, thanks to a groundbreaking medical procedure. Grace received the donated uterus from her older sister, Amy, in 2023, marking the country’s first successful womb transplant.

The baby, named in honor of both her aunt and one of the pioneering surgeons involved in the procedure, symbolizes new hope for countless women who are either born without a womb or have one that doesn’t function properly.

Grace, who works as an NHS dietitian, and her husband Angus, 37, a finance professional, were thrilled to welcome their daughter. Baby Amy was delivered by a scheduled Caesarean section on February 27 at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London.

Mrs Davidson said she felt “shock” when she first held her daughter, adding: “We have been given the greatest gift we could ever have asked for.” She added: “It was just hard to believe she was real. I knew she was ours, but it’s just hard to believe. Our family is just so happy for us. It sort of feels like there’s a completeness now where there maybe wasn’t before.”

Grace Davidson was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, a rare condition affecting about one in 5,000 women. The condition results in an absent or underdeveloped uterus, though the ovaries typically remain healthy and able to produce eggs and female hormones. Because of this, women with MRKH can still conceive using fertility treatments.

Grace received her diagnosis at the age of 19 and shared that seeing mothers with prams would often leave her feeling deeply emotional. Prior to the womb transplant, she and her husband underwent fertility treatment and successfully created seven embryos, which were frozen for future use at a fertility clinic in central London.

In February 2023, Grace underwent surgery to receive a womb donated by her sister, Amy Purdie, 42, a former primary school teacher and mother of two daughters, aged 10 and six. Several months after the transplant, one of the frozen embryos was implanted into Grace’s new uterus through IVF.

Mrs Davidson and her sister/donor Amy

The new mum said: “The first couple of weeks were tricky because she was so sleepy, and we were struggling to kind of keep her awake enough for her feed, but she’s doing really well.

“She had a bit of jaundice to start with, and she needed a bit of light therapy, but she’s a stronger feeder now, and she’s more alert. She will kind of wake herself up when she wants a feed, which is nice.”

Mr Davidson said the moment his daughter arrived was very emotional. She said: “She came out crying, and we were a bit worried she would be whisked off to an antenatal ward, but she’s been with us every minute of her life so we’re so grateful for that.

“It had been such a long wait. We’d been intending to have a family somehow since we were married, and we’ve kind of been on this journey for such a long time. Having waited such a long time, it’s kind of odd getting your head around that this is the moment where you are going to meet your daughter.

“The room was full of people who have helped us on the journey to actually having Amy. We had been kind of suppressing emotion, probably for 10 years, and you don’t know how that’s going to come out – ugly crying it turns out.

“The room was just so full of love and joy and all these people that had a vested interest in Amy for incredible medical and science reasons. But the lines between that and the love for our family and for Amy are very much blurred – it felt like a room full of love.

“The moment we saw her was incredible, and both of us just broke down in emotional tears – it’s hard to describe, it was elation.”

Mrs Davidson said the couple always had “a quiet hope” the womb transplant would be a success. She also shared that she and her husband are “definitely” hoping to expand their family and have another baby in the future.