Womb Transplant Baby Born as ‘Miracle’ Hugo Becomes First UK Child from Deceased-Donor Uterus
A womb transplant baby born has arrived in the UK: Grace Bell, in her 30s and born without a viable womb, gave birth to a baby boy, Hugo, just before Christmas 2025 — the first child in the UK delivered from a womb transplanted from a dead donor.
Womb Transplant Baby Born marks first UK success
Hugo, now 10 weeks old and weighing nearly 7lbs at birth, was delivered at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in west London, and his arrival followed a decade of experimental work that is running as a UK clinical research trial involving 10 womb transplants. Three transplants in the trial have already been carried out; this is the first baby born from one of those procedures.
Surgery in Oxford, IVF in London
Bell's womb transplant operation lasted 10 hours at The Churchill Hospital in Oxford in June 2024. The couple then underwent IVF treatment some months later, with embryo transfer carried out at The Lister Fertility Clinic in London before the pregnancy that produced Hugo.
Donor family, partner and reactions
Bell and her partner, Steve Powell, from Kent, paid tribute to the "kindness and selflessness" of the donor and her family for what they called an "incredible gift. " A photo caption in the coverage named the partner as Steven Powell. Bell said she thinks of the donor and her family every day and prayed they might find some peace in knowing their daughter "gave me the biggest gift: the gift of life. "
Personal history and surgeon response
Born without a womb, Bell does not have periods but does have normal ovaries — a condition called MRKH syndrome, which 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. When she received a phone call that a womb had been donated and a transplant was possible, Bell remembered being "in complete shock" and "really excited. " Surgeons described the birth as "a ground-breaking moment, " saying it could give hope to many more women with a similar diagnosis.
Public pages and available details
The wider coverage included a note that an Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust page returned a title of "Service unavailable" with no further text visible in the provided material. Grace Bell told the that "words can't explain" the experience of having a baby and described waking to see Hugo's face with "his little dummy in, " saying "it felt like I needed to wake up from a dream. "
This birth is confirmed as part of the ongoing UK clinical research trial of 10 womb transplants; three transplants in the trial have been carried out so far. Plans for the next transplant or the trial's immediate next steps are unclear in the provided context.
