Doctors prepare for UK's first ever womb transplants this year

First baby born following operation could arrive in 2020, experts believe

The procedure has been successfully performed in Sweden (Shutterstock)

Doctors in the UK are preparing for the first womb transplant operations to take place this year.

The pioneering medical technique could see the first baby born as a result of the procedure as early as 2020, one consultant gynaecologist has said.

Richard Smith, who leads researchers at Womb Transplant UK, said he hopes the first transplants will take place before the end of 2018.

Mr Smith said the prospect of a UK woman being helped to conceive with a transplanted womb is “truly exciting”.

“We have the opportunity to make a real difference,” he told the Daily Mail.

“It’s a major step forward for women with absolute uterine infertility.

“Until now their only options have been adoption or surrogacy, which is not always easy.”

The first successful birth after a womb transplant was achieved in Sweden in 2014.

The technique has also been carried out in countries including the US, Germany, China and Turkey.

Doctors in the UK were granted approval to carry out Britain’s first 10 womb transplants in 2015.

Some 6,000 women around the country were reportedly born without a womb.

PA