Indy Pearl Edwards isn’t the first baby born via uterine transplant, and she likely won’t be the last, but it’s still a new and exciting reality.
The girl was born through a landmark uterus transplant clinical trial at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. Indy's birth is the fourth in the clinical trial.
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“Lance and I are overjoyed to announce the birth of our miracle daughter, who we hope not only brings joy to our lives but hope to other women battling infertility,” Kayla Edwards said of her and her husband. “We climbed every mountain possible to get here and feel so blessed.”
Edwards was told at the age of 16 that she would never be able to get pregnant due to her diagnosis of Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser, a congenital disorder of the female reproduction system in which there is either an underdeveloped uterus or no uterus at all.
About 10 years later, Edwards received a transplanted uterus from a living donor. Early this year, she became pregnant through in vitro fertilization and gave birth to Indy Pearl in September.
"Being told at such a young age that I would never be pregnant and then looking now at my daughter is a dream come true,” Edwards said. “I hope sharing details about my battle with infertility and pregnancy journey helps raise awareness and brings hope for others in the MRKH community.”
The clinical trial, which is a part of Baylor Scott & White Health, has seen 20 completed uterus transplants by researchers, who say the ultimate goal is to be able to offer the option to any woman with uterine factor infertility.
“This is the final frontier in research for infertility,” said Dr. Giuliano Testa, principal investigator of the uterus transplant clinical trial at Baylor University Medical Center, chief of abdominal transplantation, and chairman of the Baylor Annette C. and Harold C. SimmonsTransplant Institute. “Participants like the Edwards family are true heroes. They are doing more than expanding their family, they are helping others who have been diagnosed with absolute uterine factor infertility. Each transplant brings us one step closer to understanding and providing more infertility treatment options.”
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