Prime Highlights:
- Grace Bell, born without a womb, delivered a healthy baby boy, Hugo, after receiving a womb transplant from a deceased donor.
- The birth marks a major milestone in reproductive medicine, giving hope to women who cannot carry a child.
Key Facts:
- This is the first birth in the UK following a womb transplant from a deceased donor and likely the third in Europe.
- The transplant was part of the UK Investigational Study into Transplantation of the Uterus (INSITU), supported by Womb Transplant UK.
Background:
A baby boy is the first in the UK to be born after a womb transplant from a deceased donor, marking an important advance in reproductive medicine and transplant research.
Grace Bell, who was born without a womb, delivered her son, Hugo Richard Norman Powell, by caesarean section at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in December 2025. Doctors confirmed that she is the second woman in the UK to give birth following a womb transplant, but the first to do so after receiving the organ from a deceased donor. Medical experts believe the baby is only the third in Europe to be born after this type of transplant.
The transplant formed part of the UK Investigational Study into Transplantation of the Uterus (INSITU), a research programme funded by Womb Transplant UK. Surgeons carried out the complex operation before Bell underwent IVF treatment and embryo transfer at Lister Fertility Clinic. Doctors closely monitored her throughout the pregnancy.
Bell thanked the donor and her family for their decision. She said their kindness made it possible for her to become a mother. The donor’s parents said they feel immense pride in their daughter’s legacy, adding that organ donation has allowed her to give hope and life to other families even after her death.
Professor Richard Smith, who co-leads the UK womb transplant research team, described the birth as a deeply emotional moment after years of scientific work. He said the achievement would not have been possible without the donor family’s generosity. Miss Isabel Quiroga, also a co-lead of the programme, called the birth a huge milestone and said the procedure offers new hope to women who cannot conceive because they do not have a womb.
Doctors say womb transplantation remains part of an approved research study, but they hope such success will make the treatment more accessible in the future. Bell said she wants other women to have the same opportunity to carry and give birth to their own children.
