Baby Born Womb Transplant: baby born womb transplant milestone as Hugo arrives

Grace Bell, in her 30s, has become the first woman in the UK to deliver following a baby born womb transplant; her son Hugo arrived just before Christmas 2025 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in west London. Bell, born without a viable womb, says her little boy Hugo, now 10 weeks old, is "simply a miracle" and that "words can't explain" the experience of having a baby.

Transplant operation and IVF timeline

Bell was born without a womb, does not have periods but has normal ovaries, a condition identified as MRKH syndrome that affects one in every 5, 000 women in the UK. At 16 she was told she would not be able to carry her own child. In June 2024 she underwent a 10-hour womb transplant operation at The Churchill Hospital in Oxford. Some months after the operation the couple had IVF treatment and an embryo transfer at The Lister Fertility Clinic in London, leading to the pregnancy that produced Hugo.

Baby Born Womb Transplant milestone

Hugo was born just before Christmas 2025 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in west London. One report noted his weight as nearly 7lbs and another gave a more specific figure of 6lb 13oz (3. 1kg). The birth follows Bell's successful womb transplant from a deceased donor and is one of 10 such transplants taking place as part of a UK clinical research trial; three transplants have already been carried out and this is the first baby born from the programme.

Medical teams and donor tribute

Bell and her partner, Steve Powell, from Kent, paid tribute to the "kindness and selflessness" of the donor and her family for their "incredible gift", and also thanked medical teams in Oxford and London who supported their journey. Bell said she was "in complete shock" and "really excited" when she received the phone call that a womb had been donated and a transplant was possible. She added: "I think of my donor and her family every day and pray they find some peace in knowing their daughter gave me the biggest gift: the gift of life. "

Care, scans and blood tests

Women having womb transplants must undergo additional appointments, extra scans to monitor how the baby is growing inside the womb, and regular blood tests. Overall, more than 30 expert staff are involved in looking after each womb transplant patient.

Surgeons' reactions and research

Surgeons described the birth as "a ground-breaking moment" that could give hope to many more women with a similar diagnosis. Isabel Quiroga, consultant surgeon and clinical lead for organ retrieval at the Oxford Transplant Centre, part of Oxford University Hospitals, has carried out both womb transplants in the UK. She said there is a "precious amount of time" when an organ can be used from a donor who has died and that the team thinks this time period is about 12 hours.

Quiroga noted that "technically, there's more failures internationally – early failures – after the transplant from the deceased than from the living. " She added that "Equally, there's not many babies to date that have been born after a deceased donor transplant. The fact that we have the third in Europe, the first in the UK, is very, very important. " Quiroga said the work could open the door to women who do not have living donors and allow women not only to donate lifesaving organs but "to be able to allow another woman to create life. " She said the achievement was "truly magnificent, fabulous" and that she remained "still in complete awe" of donor families: "These families want to help others. They want to give life and to give health to other patients. I'm incredibly grateful. "

Bryony Jones, a consultant obstetrician at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust who has delivered both babies born in the UK following womb transplants, said: "I have the best job – delivering any baby is really exciting. " She added the case was "particularly special, especially as we had seen the patient right from the start" and that the whole team were delighted. Jones said clinicians who volunteer their time through the charity Womb Transplant UK are honest with patients about limited worldwide experience and that the work is part of ongoing research, while also noting that many skills from other organ transplantation care are transferable to managing these complex pregnancies.

When Hugo was born Bell said: "It was simply a miracle. I remember waking up in the morning and seeing his little face, with his little dummy in, and it felt like I needed to wake up from a dream. "

The baby born womb transplant outcome marks a first UK birth from a deceased-donor womb in the wider sequence of clinical work aiming to expand options for women born without a viable womb.

Unclear in the provided context: specific dates for the IVF cycle and embryo transfer beyond "some months later, " and the precise timeline linking the June 2024 operation to the December birth beyond the months stated.