Pune doctors perform India’s first uterus transplant surgery.

The younger woman was reportedly born without uterus. “The patient wanted to have her own baby and was not ready for adoption or surrogacy. Since they knew about the uterus (womb) transplant, they approached us and accepted the surgery option,” said Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, medical director, GCLI.

While both donor and recipient were in good health after the surgery, doctors said it would take a month to determine if the transplanted organ functioned normally and the woman was able to conceive. If the transplanted organ functions normally, the woman would be able to conceive through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and deliver through a caesarean section, reports HT.

The world’s first successful uterus transplant was carried out in 2012 by Dr Mats Brannstrom, head of obstetrics and gynaecology, at Sweden’s Sahlgrenska Academy, under the University of Gothenburg. In 2014, the recipient gave birth, through a caesarean section, to the world’s first baby from a transplanted uterus. Twenty-five such surgeries have been performed around the world so far.

Dr Shailesh Puntambekar is a cancer surgeon with specialisation in laparoscopic and robotic cancer surgery, laparoscopic pelvic surgery and gynaecological cancer surgery. He has developed laparoscopic radical hysterectomy for cancer cervix known as the Pune Technique. He is also a faculty at the American Association of Gynaecological Laparoscopy (AAGL).