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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To find the idea of uterus donation and having the babies of a dead woman wrong and sick?

365 replies

SummerGems · 05/12/2018 09:39

In general I am a supporter of organ donation. I do believe it’s a personal thing but for me the idea of donating the majority of my organs has never presented a problem. Until today.

Apparently a woman has given birth after receiving the donated uterus of a dead woman. Moreover, the babies she gave birth to were from the woman’s ovaries and eggs which were fertilised subsequent to her death.

Now, I am fully aware that people are going to say that it’s wonderful, that you can’t possibly know until you’ve been through fertility issues etc etc etc. But I personally think this is a step too far.

Obviously the people in question had choices and so on, but really, just because something can be done,doesn’t mean that it should. Are we really to believe that those children will be comfortable with the idea that they were conceived of a dead woman’s ovaries? That it’s right to create children where there is no biological parent just because someone has infertility? Not to mention the fact that according to the news reports all previous donations have resulted in miscarriages?

If uterus donation were to become a mainstream accepted thing I would be ticking the box to say that I didn’t consent. And if it were all or nothing I would refuse to be any kind of organ donor if it meant my uterus and/or my eggs would be donated.

OP posts:
Hadjab · 05/12/2018 09:44

I would donate my uterus, not sure how much use it would be as it’s 48 years old. Not sure about my eggs though...

ladybee28 · 05/12/2018 09:44

Ever heard of a sperm bank?

MephistophelesApprentice · 05/12/2018 09:44

It's just really, really, really, really REALLY early adoption.

Seems reasonable to me.

Harebellmeadow · 05/12/2018 09:46

Wouldnt want to donate my uterus - non essential to human life. Also wouldnt donate my eggs. Or hire a surrogate. Sickening how more and more aspects of female biology are being commercialised as technology advances.

RedPandaMama · 05/12/2018 09:47

That's your opinion, and that's fine, you don't have to consent.

For me, if I died tomorrow (aged 22) I would like them to take every bit of me they could, including my uterus. I like the idea of helping someone who can't have babies, have them. And in a way it means a bit of you lives on when you've gone, I like that.

ladybee28 · 05/12/2018 09:47

Also REALLY hope that once I've died, people don't suddenly start thinking of anything associated with me as being 'wrong and sick' .

Adversecamber22 · 05/12/2018 09:47

I think it depends on if the woman that died had consented to this. It is a further step from other organ donation. If the woman that died did not consent to this then I do think it’s wrong.

ComtesseDeSpair · 05/12/2018 09:48

I would happily consent for my uterus and ovaries to be used for another woman, and I assume the woman who donated in this case did likewise. I’ll be dead, they can play funny bones with my femurs for all I’ll care about it. Depending on the donor’s manner of death, it’s possible they might draw great comfort from knowing that somebody else will benefit from their act of generosity and enable them to “live on” in some small way.

The child has a biological mother: she just happens to no longer be here. And they have another mother, who will love them desperately. What’s wrong about that?

Theperfectchangeling · 05/12/2018 09:48

YANBU.

I don’t want my uterus/eggs used when I pass. Everything else they can have, but not these. They are not saving a life, they are being used to create life, and for me personally, that is not why I carry a donor card.

Blanchedupetitpois · 05/12/2018 09:49

would be ticking the box to say that I didn’t consent.

As you are completely entitled to do, for whatever reason. Just like any other woman is entitled to choose to donate her ovaries if she wishes.

And if it were all or nothing I would refuse to be any kind of organ donor if it meant my uterus and/or my eggs would be donated.

It isn’t all or nothing, and never will be. People already feel differently about different organs. Some don’t want to donate their eyes or faces, for example. So this imaginary scenario is not a realistic one.

It’s easy to slip into the trap of using emotive language like ‘dead woman’s babies’, but you should be respectful of the fact that there are many different opinions on this subject and no right or wrong answer.

ladybee28 · 05/12/2018 09:49

non essential to human life definitely non essential to you once you're dead, though, no?

I've never quite got my head around that line of logic: I'm not using it, but you can only have it if you'd die otherwise...

PeggySuehadababy · 05/12/2018 09:49

The ovaries were not from the deceased woman.

losingmymindiam · 05/12/2018 09:50

If it's the same one I was reading about the ovaries and eggs weren't donated. The receiver of the transplant had healthy ovaries just a malformed uterus, hence the transplant. Not really too different from other organ donation or egg donation or surrogacy. If all parties consenting, including the donor pre death, I don't see the problem.

ifancyagreencard · 05/12/2018 09:50

Well, my uterus will be no good to me once I'm gone. If I can offer another woman the chance of the joy of motherhood, as medical techniques evolve and improve, I'll be ticking the box, so to speak. I'm hardly going to come back from the dead and demand access to the child . . . .

Nothisispatrick · 05/12/2018 09:50

I’d be fine with my uterus being donated but not my eggs.

Blanchedupetitpois · 05/12/2018 09:50

Sickening how more and more aspects of female biology are being commercialised as technology advances.

There’s nothing commercial about organ donation. Nobody is paying for organs.

DadJoke · 05/12/2018 09:51

YABU to object to it in principle, YANBU not to want to donate your organs.

Racecardriver · 05/12/2018 09:52

So the NHS is literally killing isyenuts because there isn’t enough money to treat them properly and resources are being allocated to womb transplants? Or was this done overseas?

Oysterbabe · 05/12/2018 09:52

Are you against egg donation generally? What if the person dies shortly after donating her eggs?

I don't see a problem with it at all.

PeggySuehadababy · 05/12/2018 09:52

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46438396

"The recipient had Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, which affects about one in every 4,500 women and results in the vagina and uterus (womb) failing to form properly.

However, her ovaries were fine. And doctors were able to remove eggs, fertilise them with the father-to-be's sperm and freeze them."

Canyousewcushions · 05/12/2018 09:52

The woman in the story had her own ovaries but no uterus. I thought that the baby was biologically hers but incubated in the donated uterus.

NormaLouiseBates · 05/12/2018 09:52

Are you talking about the case in Brazil? If so, the baby was actually biologically the recipient's. She was born without a womb, but did have ovaries, which produced eggs.

NearlySchoolTimeAgain · 05/12/2018 09:53

I’d have to think about my ovaries but they are welcome to my uterus.

Palegreenstars · 05/12/2018 09:53

The uterus was donated, she had ivf with her own eggs.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 05/12/2018 09:54

Can anyone provide a news link to any of this?

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