A 17-hour operation involving more than 30 medical staff was one of several linked procedures behind a British medical milestone disclosed on April 7, 2025. Grace Davidson had received a uterus from her sister in February 2023. Two years later, she became the first woman in the United Kingdom to give birth after a womb transplant.
The child, Amy, was delivered by Caesarean section on February 27 at west London’s Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital. She weighed a little over two kilograms. Davidson and her husband, Angus, chose the name to recognise Amy Purdie, the sister who donated the organ; the baby’s middle name, Isabel, honours Isabel Quiroga, who led the transplant surgery.
For Davidson, 36, the route to pregnancy began with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome. The rare condition left her without a functioning uterus, although her ovaries worked. An earlier hope that her mother might be a donor ended when the organ was found unsuitable. Purdie, who had two children and did not plan to have more, was subsequently assessed. Both sisters received counselling before proceeding.
The transplant at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital had originally been planned for 2019 but was delayed, including during the pandemic. After it finally went ahead, Davidson had her first menstrual period within a fortnight. Fertility treatment had produced embryos, and the first IVF attempt after surgery resulted in pregnancy.
The birth does not make the transplanted uterus a permanent organ. Anti-rejection medicines remain part of Davidson’s daily routine, and prolonged exposure can increase the likelihood of certain cancers. She and Angus would like another child when clinicians consider the timing appropriate. The plan is then to remove the uterus, allowing her to discontinue immunosuppression; Quiroga said the associated cancer risk should return to its usual level after treatment stops.
Britain’s programme extends beyond this case. The team reported three later transplants from deceased donors and has authorisation for a 15-patient trial: five operations using living donors and 10 using deceased donors. Womb Transplant UK covered the NHS costs of Davidson’s procedure, estimated at roughly £30,000, while clinicians contributed their work without charge. About 10 prospective recipients had stored embryos or were receiving fertility treatment.
The broader field remains small. The first transplant-assisted birth was recorded in Sweden in 2014. By the British announcement, approximately 135 uterine transplants in more than 12 countries had led to around 65 births. The UK team estimated that about 15,000 women of childbearing age nationwide lacked a functioning uterus, including roughly 5,000 born without one. Amy’s arrival therefore marked both one family’s outcome and the first completed birth in the country’s developing programme.
