A baby girl has become the first child in the UK to be born following a womb transplant, in a ground-breaking moment for fertility treatment. Grace Davidson, a 36-year-old NHS dietitian from north London, received a uterus from her older sister, Amy Purdie, in the country’s first successful womb transplant in 2023. After undergoing IVF with embryos frozen before the procedure, she gave birth to her daughter, Amy Isabel, on 27 February via a planned Caesarean section at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London.
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Mrs Davidson was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, a rare condition affecting around one in every 5,000 women. It results in the underdevelopment or absence of the womb, though the ovaries still function. After years of hope and uncertainty, the success of the transplant brought new possibilities. Baby Amy, named in honour of both her aunt and one of the lead surgeons, was delivered early and spent her first week in hospital establishing breastfeeding and receiving light therapy for jaundice.
The emotional journey was shared by a large team of medical professionals and the Davidson family, culminating in the birth of a child that symbolises the potential of medical science. Mr Davidson described the moment of Amy’s arrival as “elation”, with the room “full of love” and shared accomplishment. The transplant was led by Professor Richard Smith of Womb Transplant UK and consultant surgeon Isabel Quiroga, who both witnessed Amy’s birth. The couple said they always held a quiet hope the transplant would succeed, but the reality only sank in when they held their daughter.
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The success offers new hope to women living with MRKH or similar conditions. Mrs Davidson, who took immunosuppressants throughout her pregnancy, described the experience as relatively smooth and expressed her gratitude to her sister, the medical team, and the support network that brought them to this point. Womb Transplant UK has performed four such procedures so far and is raising funds to continue the life-changing programme. As Mrs Davidson put it, “This is huge, when it wasn’t there before.”
