Up until November of 2015, having uterus transplants in the United States was only a dream to infertile women.
Thanks to our friends in Sweden who have had five pregnancies and four live births with uterus transplants. Their success has encouraged doctors to try the uterus transplants in America.
To ladies with a healthy reproductive system, this procedure might sound out of this world, but to women like myself that were born without a uterus, this procedure can potentially change the rest of our lives.
You see, 1 of every 4,500 newborn girls are born without a uterus. This condition is called Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome or for short, we call it MRKH.
I was diagnosed around at 15 years old, when I was a sophomore in high school. Most girls who are born with MRKH have no idea they have this syndrome until they realize they never get their period.
No period = No babies.
Some girls call it a blessing in disguise. I mean come on, we never have to deal with the monthly bleeding, or have pregnancy scares.
However, having children is always in the back of our minds. There are multiple ways to become mothers without a uterus. For example, we can adopt or we can have a surrogate mother.
But now, with the idea of having uterus transplants in the United States, a window of opportunities has opened.
Eight women without a uterus have reportedly started the screening process to obtain a uterus transplant.
The process is time consuming and a bit complicated. Although they will receive a uterus, the woman must use her own eggs fertilized with her partner's sperm and freeze them.
When the couple has 10 frozen embryos, she will then be put on a waiting list for a transplant. The donor and the recipient will have to have matching blood and tissue type.
Doctors say the babies will be born via c-sections to reduce strain on the transplanted organ.
This advanced technology treatment is a huge breakthrough in the MRKH community.
I can't help but tear up from happiness as I am writing this article. This is something that I will be trying out in the future when I decide to settle down. Of course, this will be 10 years from now. But for my MRKH sisters who are ready to start a family, I wish them the best in the new procedure.
