Can I return my mother’s womb after borrowing it to have a baby? Q: Can a daughter who has borrowed her mother’s uterus to have a baby return it to her mother through a re-transplant? If there is a matching woman who needs a uterus transplant, can the uterus that has already been transplanted be used again? Dr. Li Wei: Technically speaking, after a daughter borrows her mother’s uterus to have a baby, the mother’s uterus can be removed from her daughter’s body and re-transplanted to her mother through re-transplantation. However, this does not make any sense for the mother, and the operation will also increase the mother’s pain, so from all aspects, the hospital will not do such an operation. As for the second re-transplantation of the uterus, there is no precedent in the field of organ transplantation, not to mention the risk of rejection in re-transplantation is even greater. The transplanted uterus is kept or removed after the birth of the baby? Second question: After a daughter borrows her mother’s uterus to have a baby, does the borrowed uterus have to be removed? Can it stay in the recipient’s body for a long time? Dr. Weili: After the transplanted uterus has completed its reproductive mission, it can stay in the recipient’s body, but it has to take medication to fight rejection for the rest of its life. Due to the damage of long-term medication to the liver and other organs, and the fact that the transplanted uterus has completed its reproductive mission, it does not make much sense to stay in the recipient’s body. For safety reasons, the transplanted uterus can be removed at the same time after the birth of a child, thus avoiding the harmful effects of lifelong medication. Can I have a baby with a transplanted uterus without having a C-section? Q3: Does my daughter have to have a cesarean section when she gives birth to her baby after transplanting her mother’s uterus? Is it possible to let her deliver naturally without surgery? Dr. Li Wei: Her daughter, Yang Hua, is congenitally without a uterus or vagina. This time, she will have a baby through the transplant of her mother’s uterus, and if the pregnancy is successful, her baby will be a “precious child”. Because of the uncontrollable factors that often occur in a normal birth, hospitals generally choose to deliver a baby by cesarean section in order to ensure the safe birth of a “precious child”. The vagina is an artificial vagina, which is not flexible enough for a normal birth. Can a man have a child with a transplanted uterus after a sex change operation? Q4: Because there is no uterus, men can only get married after sex reassignment surgery and cannot have children. Does the success of the first uterus transplantation in China mean that transgender men who have become daughters through surgery can also have a uterus transplantation to have a baby, so that they can really become women? Dr. Wei Li: From the medical point of view, the physical characteristics of men and daughters are basically the same through anatomy, and it is possible to transplant a healthy uterus with the same mating type into a transgender person and let them get pregnant and have a child under the premise of ethical and legal compliance. Can the transplanted uterus give birth to a second child after the first one? Q5: Can my daughter, Yang Hua, have a second child after she successfully gave birth to her first child with a transplanted uterus? If so, what conditions should be met? Dr. Wei Li: If Yang Hua’s health indicators are normal, the transplanted uterus is also normal, and she has a strong desire to have a second child, Yang Hua can continue to have a second child after successfully having her first child, but generally it is not recommended to have a third child. Can a post-menopausal woman donate her own uterus to the recipient? Six questions: How old can a woman donate her uterus for surgical transplantation? At what age can a woman receive a uterus transplant? Dr. Weili: Both women who provide a uterus and women who receive a uterus transplant can be transplanted as long as they are in their childbearing years, and the younger they are, the higher the success rate of the procedure. According to the surgical transplantation requirements, women who provide a uterus can be post-menopausal, except that such a uterus, has some impact on pregnancy and fertility. As for the recipient, her age is required to be in the reproductive age. Q7: How long does it take to get pregnant and have a baby after a successful uterus transplant? Dr. Wei Li: If the physical condition of both donors and recipients allows, it will take six months from pre-preparation, vaginal reconstruction, assisted conception (egg retrieval, frozen fertilized eggs) to uterine transplantation. 1 year later, the hospital will do assisted conception for Yang Hua, which means the previously frozen fertilized eggs will be transferred into Yang Hua’s new uterus, and if it goes well, Yang Hua will be able to have a baby after 10 months. Does a successful uterus transplant mean that a baby will be born? Q8: Does a successful uterus transplant mean that the recipient, Yang Hua, will definitely be able to have a baby with her new uterus? Dr. Li Wei: Even if a normal person is pregnant and has a baby, there is a question of whether the pregnancy is successful or not, and the uterus transplant is no exception. However, the chance of having a baby with a transplanted uterus is lower than that of a normal person. Official data show that of the 11 uterine transplants performed worldwide, 8 have been successful, and only 1 case has been reported of a successful pregnancy and premature birth of a child.