# Revealed: first ovary transplant baby



## Anthony Reid (Jan 1, 2002)

A sterile woman is to give birth to the worlds first baby conceived after a full ovary transplant.

The 38-year-old was rendered infertile when her ovaries failed at the age of 15, causing her to suffer an early menopause. After receiving an ovary transplanted from her twin sister, the woman, who lives in London, is expected to give birth this week.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5114799.ece
/links


----------



## Charlies-Mum (May 25, 2005)

Wow! I guess this must bring a new set of challenges (ethically speaking) but as a potential 'treatment' I guess its a huge step.
Strangely it doesn't say if the pregnancy was concieved naturally or with drug/assisted conception 

Takes being a 'donor' to a new level though!


----------



## Miranda7 (Feb 12, 2007)

That is astonishing. What a fantastic step forward!


----------



## DizziSquirrel (Feb 15, 2005)

Tony I have previously read about another twin sister ovary donation - could have been australlian 

It was televised a while back . . .



> Gynaecologists have already carried out transplants of strips of ovarian tissue, which have resulted in at least three births. This is the first known pregnancy from a whole ovary transplant,


  Must have been what I saw.


----------



## Jane D (Apr 16, 2007)

Fantastic news in my opinion, as I have POF. i hope technology continues to advance as I am terrified my dd will develop POF and will be getting her monitored from a very early age.

J


----------



## cherriepie (Nov 3, 2007)

Hey all

I seen this and thought I had to post a link here. I know that the article itself refers to indentical twins as the resulting children would be genetically identical to the birth monther however I think there are huge (and good) implications here. Many women consider egg donors and I am sure some may welcome the chance to conceive "naturally" and also understand that, like the article says, many women probably would not consider it.

I know that I intend to become an egg donor and am already an organ donor. I can say at this point, hand on heart that if I could donate my ovary to someone when I am gone and give them the chance to realise their dreams then I would.

What does everyone think of this? Could you imagine donating an ovary?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5114799.ece

I think.......what a wonderful gift o give someone - nothing quite sisterly love now is there ladies 

Cherriepie

xxxxxxxxx

/links


----------



## Han72 (Feb 15, 2007)

well up to a point but your ovary is no good to anyone unless you drop dead before the age of 35 if you follow the perceived wisdom. What I want to know is when will they be able to construct artificial fallopian tubes!

And once the ovary is transplanted and you start producing eggs again, I must be missing something but wouldnt they be made of your own genetic material and not that of the donor?  I mean, if you have a heart or liver transplant does that change your dna to that of the donor? If not then why would eggs produced by a transplanted ovary not be of the same genetic make up of the recipient?  Sorry I know I'm no geneticist but it doesn't make sense to me!

Can anyone explain it (in simple terms please?!)
xxx


----------



## cherriepie (Nov 3, 2007)

Hey Nix - I will try to explain it in simple terms.

Firstly though you are more than likely right about the age of 35 etc being important for the donor but I am not certain about that.  What I meant was that if the worst happened to me (before my ovaries were too old) then I would gladly donate them - not that I would be likely know about it anyway....lol.

When any organ (heart, lungs, kidneys) are transplanted then the person that receives the organ will have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives.  This stops the body getting confused and thinking it has a foreign body such as infection and destroying the transplanted organ.  I think that this the same even when the organs are donated by a brother, sister, Mum or Dad who share smilar DNA.

With ovaries it would be no different really if the donor was a family member or stranger who closely matched the person receiving the ovary.  Once the ovary is transplanted, follicles, eggs and all would still have the original DNA and the person would ned to take the anti-rejection drugs which means that strictly speaking any child born would not be the "biological child" of the person who received the ovary.  

In the case of the lady in the article it was her identical twin sister who donated the ovary.  As identical twins share the same DNA the the child will have the same DNA as the sister that received the ovay AND the sister who donated it but the child will "biologically" be the child of the donor sister.

Not sure if that makes anymore sense or if I have just made it worse.....lol.

Cherriepie

xxx


----------



## Han72 (Feb 15, 2007)

No that's a great explanation!  I didn't realise that organ recipients needed to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives, I just thought it was a short-term thing until the body got "used" to the transplanted organ!  

I did have a giggle when the article said the baby would be the other sister's child "genetically".   Ok as I have proven, my medical knowledge ain't all that   but at least I know that identical twins share the same DNA so that was a totally irrelevant comment by the journalist...

Also with regard to the whole ovary transplant thing, how would they KNOW your ovaries were ok before you kicked the bucket if you weren't already having some kind of investigations done?  What if the donor had some fertility problems that weren't picked up before they died?  Then the recipient is going to end up with a dud aren't they?  I mean, on paper, my ovaries are allegedly fine but I still produce bugger all eggs during tx and I've never been pregnant...  I pity the poor cow that might have ended up with my duff ovaries if I'd shuffled off this mortal wossname a few years ago and donated them!

Oh well, maybe the HFEA will ask for a law saying you can only donate your ovaries after you've gone if you bite the big one before the age of 25, that should make them suitably rare and create the right amount of heartache...  sorry off-topic HFEA mini-rant 

Seriously though, it's great that your an egg donor and fantastic that you'd consent to being an organ donor after you've gone, I think it's a big deal and I don't think that people make enough of it!  I wanted to egg share but that wasn't possible unfortunately. But I am on the register of Bone Marrow donors as at least that's something I can do while I'm still alive  and I am a registered organ donor too!  Why not, it could help somebody else after I'm gone and it's not like they'd be any use to me at that point is it?!

xxx


----------

