First baby born in the UK following a womb transplant from a deceased donor

The first baby has been born in the United Kingdom following a womb transplant from a deceased donor. This breakthrough, described as a significant milestone in the development of the country’s transplant program, was reported by Euronews. The procedure is the first of its kind in the UK and only the third in Europe.

Grace Bell, who was born without a uterus, gave birth to a healthy boy—Hugo Richard Norman Powell—via caesarean section at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London in December 2025. She is the second woman in the UK to give birth following a womb transplant, but the first to receive an organ from a deceased donor.

“There are no words to thank my donor and her family enough. Their kindness and selflessness toward a complete stranger allowed me to realize my dream of becoming a mother,” Bell shared.

The transplant was performed as part of the approved UK Investigational Study into Transplantation of the Uterus (INSITU). Following the surgery, Bell underwent an IVF procedure and embryo transfer at the Lister Fertility Clinic in London. Her pregnancy was closely monitored.

The donor’s family expressed “immense pride in the legacy” their daughter left behind. “Through organ donation, she gave other families the priceless gift of time, hope, healing, and now, life,” they stated.

Prof. Richard Smith, co-lead of the British womb transplant research team, described the birth as the culmination of years of scientific work. “This was only possible thanks to the family’s decision to donate organs at a time of tragic loss,” he emphasized.

According to Dr. Isabel Quiroga, this event offers new hope to women born without a uterus or those who have lost it due to disease. “This is the only treatment that allows them to carry and give birth to their own child—an alternative alongside adoption or surrogacy,” she noted.

Grace Bell expressed hope that the procedure will become more accessible in the future. “I hope that one day this opportunity for motherhood will be much more widely available, so that other women can have the chance that I was given,” she said.