Womb Transplant Baby Born: Hugo’s Arrival Marks First UK Birth From Deceased Donor Uterus
A womb transplant baby born to Grace Bell has been confirmed as the first in the UK to come from a womb donated after death. The delivery matters because it demonstrates a successful pathway from deceased-donor uterus retrieval through transplant, assisted conception and pregnancy within a UK clinical research programme.
Womb Transplant Baby Born: Hugo at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital
Hugo Powell was delivered in December at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in west London, weighing 6lb 13oz (3. 1kg). The baby was born just before Christmas 2025 and is now 10 weeks old. Doctors described the moment of his birth as enormously joyful and a ground‑breaking moment that could offer hope to other women with similar fertility diagnoses.
Grace Bell and Steve Powell’s Journey from Diagnosis to Delivery
Grace Bell, in her 30s and from Kent, was born without a viable womb and does not have menstrual periods, though she has normal ovaries — a condition identified as MRKH syndrome, which affects one in every 5, 000 women in the UK. Told at age 16 she would not be able to carry a child, Bell and her partner Steve Powell had considered surrogacy and awaited the possibility of a transplant.
They have publicly paid tribute to the donor and her family for what they call an "incredible gift, " and Bell says she thinks of the donor every day. After a call that a deceased-donor womb was available, Bell underwent a transplant and subsequent fertility treatment that resulted in Hugo’s birth.
Surgery at The Churchill Hospital, Oxford
The transplant operation took place at The Churchill Hospital in Oxford in June 2024 and lasted 10 hours. Retrieval and surgical teams involved specialists from the Oxford Transplant Centre, part of Oxford University Hospitals. Consultant surgeon Isabel Quiroga, clinical lead for organ retrieval at the Oxford centre, has carried out the womb retrievals performed in the UK and explained there is a "precious amount of time" when an organ from a deceased donor can be used, estimating that window at about 12 hours.
Quiroga also noted that international experience shows a higher rate of early failures after deceased-donor uterine transplants than after living-donor procedures, underscoring the technical challenge encountered in this work.
IVF and Maternity Care at The Lister Fertility Clinic and Imperial Teams
Following the transplant, Bell received IVF treatment some months later and an embryo transfer at The Lister Fertility Clinic in London. The pregnancy was managed with additional appointments, extra scans and regular blood tests as part of the specialised follow-up for uterine transplant recipients.
Bryony Jones, a consultant obstetrician at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust who has delivered both babies born in the UK after womb transplants, described the delivery team’s excitement and the coordinated effort on the day. More than 30 expert staff are involved in looking after each womb transplant patient, and some clinicians volunteer their time through the charity Womb Transplant UK. Jones stressed that while worldwide experience is limited, many skills from other organ-transplant and high-risk pregnancy care are transferable to these cases.
Separately, a page at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust displayed a notice reading "Service unavailable, " highlighting intermittent access to online materials about the programme.
UK Clinical Research Trial: Scale and Early Activity
The transplant that enabled Hugo’s birth is one of 10 planned in a UK clinical research trial. Three transplants have already been carried out within that programme, and this is the first baby known to have been born following a deceased-donor womb transplant in the UK. At the same time, clinicians involved note that two womb transplants in the UK have been carried out by the Oxford team, reflecting the concentrated nature of surgical expertise for these procedures.
Surgeons and obstetricians involved said the successful birth could broaden options for women with uterine absence or similar conditions, while acknowledging that ongoing research is required to define the risks, success rates and optimal protocols. What makes this notable is the combination of deceased-donor retrieval, a lengthy transplant operation, assisted conception and multidisciplinary maternity care all converging to produce a live birth within a formal research setting.
