Melinda Arnold, Woman Born Without A Womb, Will Undergo Womb Transplant From Her Mom To Get Pregnant

Here’s a story of a woman determined to be a mom -- and a mom determined to be a grandma. Melinda Arnold, 34, was born without a womb but her ovaries produce eggs. After trying several methods to have a baby, she will become the first woman in Australia to undergo a womb transplant, the Telegraph reports. The most surprising part of the story is that her donor is her mother, Denise Allen.

"She was three years old when she first expressed a desire to be a mother," Allen told the Telegraph.

Allen has been by her daughter’s side as she has tried to get pregnant. First she acted as Arnold’s surrogate 10 years ago, but that was unsuccessful. "There was a bit of a feeling that I had failed her, but Melinda never saw it that way," Allen said. After a friend attempted surrogacy and also failed, Arnold and her husband Andrew tried adoption, but gave up after three years of no luck.

"Mum and I talked about a transplant years ago, before we even knew if it would be possible," Arnold said.

Now, thanks to a transplant team led by Mats Brannstrom, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Gothenburg University in Sweden, Allen’s dream of becoming a mother might finally come true. Brannstrom says transplants are the solution for women who are missing a womb and can’t be treated any other way. He heads a medical team who hopes to complete the same procedure on a woman in Sweden next spring.

Both mother and daughter understand the risk, but are willing to do whatever it takes. Arnold said she would never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try.

"I also know that if anyone can do this, my daughter can," Allen said.

Read the whole story at the Daily Telegraph.

Comments

[Pavane]

11:26 PM on 10/23/2011

If in the future womb transplants become common, just think of the fun men can have carrying a child. I mean, we could even become an androgynous specie!

[nix28]

01:18 AM on 10/23/2011

Wow, such discouraging remarks. I really don't see the issue here. A mother wants to help her child become a mother. They've tried surrogacy, they've tried adoption. Why not try a womb transplant? I don't see how it's any different from a parent donating any other organ to a child. Yes, she'll be on anti-rejection drugs, but we have to look at the fact that many women have transplanted organs and still manage to get pregnant and have healthy children. Should a woman with a heart, lung, or kidney transplant never have children? That's ridiculous. I'm happy that this woman is getting a chance at having her own child and wish them all the best.

[Jane Su]

09:59 PM on 10/19/2011

Good, now pro-life men who think it's ok to force women to have children for men can have a uterus implanted in them, so they can put their own bodies, health, lives on the line carrying and giving birth to children. Not so easy when it's your own body and safety on the line, now is it?

[Lola914]

05:06 PM on 10/19/2011

That's sweet.

[ldsantiago]

08:15 PM on 10/18/2011

They couldn't do it on Private Practice...

[Megandale]

04:12 PM on 10/22/2011

Haha! I was trying to remember what show I watched recently about this...

[Carla Rae H]

06:57 PM on 10/18/2011

Medical science has made astounding leaps. It is amazing what doctors are capable of doing now. If this is the course they intend to take, I hope it goes well for them. I'm sure they've considered all of the possible things that could go wrong and, if so, are apparently okay with taking the risks. I don't think I could put my mother at risk so I could have a baby, but I'm certainly not condemning these people for what they are trying to do. I just hope it goes well and safely for them both so no one winds up living with any regrets over it.

[Scairp]

06:22 PM on 10/18/2011

I'm sorry, I have a problem with this and find it just a little on the creepy side that mom is giving up her own uterus in the literal sense. It's the same feeling I got when I heard about 65 year old women who had babies through egg donation. I also don't think it will work. I'm not a doctor or a researcher but I don't think the uterus is one of those organs that can be transplanted like a heart or a kidney. I feel for a woman who wants to be a mother & is physically unable to do so. I am also not understanding how there can be so many children who need loving homes in this world and when they tried adoption "....gave up after three years of no luck"? What does that mean exactly? No luck in finding a perfect caucasian infant? I hope that's not it.

If she has her own egg producing ovaries then she should keep trying with the surrogate. It will probably work eventually. I think some of the facts are missing, such as how many times they've tried surrogacy & of course the adoption attempt. Anyway, this sounds like a recipe for even more heartache for everyone involved and the medical community ought not to be doing this.

[covyzoo]

04:20 PM on 10/18/2011

I wonder if this woman will have to take anti-rejection drugs just as any other transplant patient? If so, will that affect the fetus? She should just have her eggs fertilized and implanted in her mother. That would be much safer for all.

[fifiwereking]

04:17 PM on 10/18/2011

this is ridiculous... how is she supposed to get pregnant and carry a child to term while spending the rest of her life on anti-rejection drugs? stick with the surrogacy route, or the better alternative of adoption - with all the money they're spending on this ridiculous surgery, they could surely arrange a private adoption...

[Heidi Dietrich]

04:34 PM on 10/18/2011

I'm sure the doctor educated them on the anti rejection drugs. It doesn't sound like they are going into this blindly.

[KanaMV86]

12:51 PM on 10/19/2011

Considering there's a whole team of doctors on this, who state that Womb transplant is the way to go, I don't think they're making an uninformed decision here. Unless you claim to be smarter then a whole team of doctors with years and years of schooling and experience. Also, they tried adopting. Time does not seem to be on their side. Each year they wait they get older, and they just might know them selves enough to know they need to have kids before they get too old. AND if things go well and they have a baby they will probably still keep adoption open as an option.

[Hope Yates]

04:07 PM on 10/18/2011

I feel bad for her husband. To be married to a woman that feels she has nothing to offer a man.(Since breeding is all we're good for.)

[Heidi Dietrich]

04:29 PM on 10/18/2011

Maybe they just want a child of their own. With their own cells in that child. When you love someone that much, you want to share that experience with them. I don't think she thinks that's all she has to offer him. If that was the case, he could have hired someone out for that. Don't sell the woman short. I think there must be something to seeing a child with both of you mixed into that child.

[djselbac]

05:11 PM on 10/18/2011

That does satisfy the narcissist in us doesn't it .

[jnsburke7]

03:14 PM on 10/18/2011

It's really a shame what a person will go through to have a baby and yet some people who have babies abuse them ,some even kill them.It just doesn't seem right.

[smelly katz]

07:22 AM on 10/18/2011

kidney transplants, liver transplants, lung transplants, face transplants, now womb transplants.
i wonder if i could get a new taut cellulite free butt transplant

[glenaurora]

02:41 AM on 10/18/2011

In this case I guess it's OK for her to be throwing her womb around as normally I would object.

[janroc67]

08:00 PM on 10/17/2011

If you read the post, they tried for THREE years to adopt with no luck.

[fifiwereking]

04:13 PM on 10/18/2011

not unusual... since they're still trying other methods, why not stick with the adoption course at the same time? not trying hard enough

[djselbac]

05:13 PM on 10/18/2011

I am with you adoption is a good solution.

[Vic22]

04:57 PM on 10/17/2011

Hey, mom, you're not still using that, are you?