Baby born after womb transplant

[Wildflowers99]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/34329085/womb-transplant-baby-hope/

I’m not really sure how I feel about this.

On one hand it all seems consensual and fine, and nice that they’re all happy.

On the other it seems yet more expansion of surrogacy-type science, making pregnancy/babies a sort of human right that we should go to any lengths to make possible for people. And all the ethical/moral issues around that.

What do you think?

Nope completely relevant. The person implied it was important as a feminist but had not done it herself.

Agreed.

I am an organ donor but would not want my uterus used like this if I were to become an organ donor candidate.

Genuine question - why not? I doubt my oestrogen starved womb would be any use to anyone but I wouldn’t hesitate if it would change a couple’s life.

Donor arms, donor faces, donor corneas…none of those are life saving.

Feminism is about looking at any issue with ALL women in mind- not just the western, mostly white, privileged women who will benefit from the procedure but also from the perspective of women most likely to be exploited. The same women who are already being exploited in organ harvesting, surrogacy farms and other forms of human trafficking. Even in the UK where the procedure is likely to be regulated to the max, there is still ethical implications to consider for the donor. Feminism is not about supporting some women at a cost to other women. It is about interrogating all issues that relate to all women to find ways of ensuring every women's rights and dignity.

Me too. I would donate a range of things but not my uterus.

Same uterus. She very nearly lost it after her first baby as the donor tissue was infected with HPV. Normally they are only allowed 6 months between babies but this delayed things. The transplant medication has caused lots of side effects so she can't stay on them for too long. The donor in this case is deceased and the donor's mother is in contact with Liz.

If you live in Scotland, you must opt out of organ donation instead of opting in. And there is no option to deselect uterus (well there wasn't the last time I checked).

Not in general,only those suffering from a specific and rare condition. Unless you are suggesting it’s used for women suffering from repeated miscarriage or unexplained infertility, to see if a new uterus works better?

Not all fertility treatment is done because the woman’s body is not working as it should,e.g older menopausal women using donor eggs. That’s because their fertility has come to a natural and normal end.

So if you have one baby with a transplanted uterus and you want another you have to get pregnant again ASAP, because the uterus won’t last any longer?

at times our bodies do not work in the way they should and if this can be fixed how can that be anything but positive

I disagree. A baby is a want at the end of the day, so many women live shitty lives or die younger than need be because of a lack of research into womens health conditions. Any money and resource being poured into this want rather than those is gross imo

My thoughts entirely, we can’t just look at what’s happening now, but where it is likely to lead. Like all forms of organ donation and surrogacy, it’s likely to end up a market in impoverished countries, or subject to a hefty dose of emotional blackmail. It won’t stop here, it never does.

So we shouldn’t do something which will be well regulated in the UK because it might be done badly somewhere else?

So it seems. Nobody cares about the thousands of hearts, kidneys or livers that get transplanted but somehow a uterus is special. It makes no sense to me.

Obviously. Those organs sustain life, the latter does not.

Anyone complaining is the same to complain about abortions.

This is amazing in the medical world and is something we never dreamt would work.

You mean trans women ?

It wouldn't work for transgender women even with a womb transplant. Many get educated before making ignorant comments.

The latter sustains the life of an unborn baby. Corneas don’t sustain life, we transplant a shedload of those.

To enhance someone's life, yes. This is just to indulge someone's wants. It doesn't sustain the life of an unborn baby by itself, that needs to be put into being first.

How are they the same? Yes if only the medical world was as bothered about other aspects of womens health hey.

How does being able to have a child not enhance the lives of an infertile couple?

As someone who previously had fertility issues, being able to have children has enhanced my life beyond measure.

How well can live uterine donation be regulated? You can't really regulate for familial pressure or coercion? Women already donate more organs than men, and I think that this is due in part to our gender role as "care-givers". We can not remove the internal pressure a women will feel to potentially put herself at risk for someone else's opportunity to host a child inside their body.

Hysterectomy - even a partial hysterectomy does increase the risk of sexual dysfunction, prolapse, and early menopause (which in itself increases the risk of heart disease, bowel disease and dementia). Uterine donation has a more significant impact on the donor than other forms of donation like kidney or liver. In those surgeries the highest risk comes from infection. Women who have hysterectomies will also be at risk from infection and blood clotting.

How can we "regulate" for all of this?

It's still just a want though isn't it?

I don't care if we agree to disagree, this won't ever sit right with me which doesn't matter does it as people will carry on regardless.

A nice cup of tea and a biscuit after being fussed over for thirty minutes.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1124370/#:~:text=The%20report%20says%20that%20economic,sex%20differences%20in%20organ%20transplantation.

This is why all organ donation is a feminist issue and why "regulation" means nothing in the face of gendered pressures.

The report points to a study at a large Canadian transplant centre that found that 36% of wives who were acceptable for donation did in fact donate, compared with 6.5% of husbands

Women are already under huge pressure to put their own lives at risk for others. As the article states, instead of applauding them for their altruism we should be asking why donation is so gendered.