This is incredible.
A woman in Sweden has given birth to a baby by using her sister’s womb.
36-year-old Lolita Wästerlund was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, a rare medical condition which meant she was born without a uterus. She was told at the age of 14 that she would never be able to have children.
While she dealt with this heartbreak for most of her young adult life, she was not willing to give up her dream of becoming pregnant and managed to find a way to carry her own child and has shared her magnificent story with The Daily Mail. She told them that she heard of trials in Sweden who were looking for volunteers to undergo womb transplants. She was fortunate that her sister, Linda, who had already given birth to four children, was willing to donate her womb.
She told them that she heard of trials in Sweden who were looking for volunteers to undergo womb transplants. She was fortunate that her sister, Linda, who had already given birth to four children, was willing to donate her womb.
The transplant was a success and Lolita underwent IVF with her own eggs and her partner’s sperm, and carried their baby to term.
Speaking about her experience she said:
“My life has taken a new turn, I am so happy. Just looking at him makes me smile. I still have a feeling that this is unreal… It should not have been able to happen, but it did.
“You become a woman when you have your first period, and that never happened to me.
“I felt that I was not a real woman and had problems with my identity and my purpose in life. Meeting men was also very hard. I never really knew when to tell them that I could not have children.
“Should I tell them something that very private on the first dates or should I wait and tell them later with the risk of making them feel like I have cheated them?
“This was a hard blow for me because I really wanted to become a mother at young age. I remember writing in my journal when I was 14 ‘dear god, please give me a womb where I can bear my child’. I felt that it was unfair, I wanted to become the best mother a child could ever have and now I was not supposed to have children.”
Speaking about her options for having a child she said:
“Me and my husband talked about adopting. But we never really felt like it. I guess the sorrow of not being able to have a child made me felt that it was always going to be someone else’s child. I have full respect for those who are adopting, but it was just not right for me.”
After hearing about the new procedure she recalls, “I never asked Linda if I could have hers; she was the one who wanted to help me. If she had not wanted to donate, this would never have happened.”
Speaking about the transplant she said:
“Linda was under anaesthetic for about 12 hours. They needed to take a lot of tests to be absolutely sure that her uterus was suitable. Then they operated for about six hours to get inside me.”
Lolita then had to wait a year before she would be able to try for a baby through IVF, with the doctors being extra cautious about the health of the uterus. After the year was up she began the IVF process using her embryos and her husband’s sperm.
“It was a very nervous time for us both,” Lolita said, “We tried again and again, but it did not work. I could see how the eggs was getting smaller and smaller in the freezer.”
Then finally in Autumn 2014 she became pregnant and in 2015 she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Speaking about her condition, which affects approximately 4,500 women each year, she said:
“Our story is important for all the 14-year-olds out there who get the same reply from a doctor that I did. Firstly, you are not alone with this problem.
“The feeling that you are not a woman, there are others that are suffering from the same syndrome. Secondly, because of the research being done, there is hope.”
