A "miracle" baby girl has become the first child in the UK to be born to a mother using a donated womb.
Grace Davidson, 36, who was born without a functioning uterus, received her sister's womb in 2023.
Two years after that pioneering operation, Grace gave birth to her first child in February. Grace and her husband Angus, both originally from Scotland but now living in north London, named their daughter Amy after Grace's sister who donated her womb.
Grace was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, a rare condition where the womb is missing or underdeveloped, but with functioning ovaries.
The transplant took place in February 2023
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She was hoping her mother could donate her uterus, but it proved unsuitable. One of Grace's sisters, Amy Purdie, who already had two children and wanted no more, was assessed as a donor.
The transplant eventually took place in February 2023, involving more than 30 medics in a 17-hour procedure.
Isabel Quiroga, who led the transplant team, described the procedure as "life-enhancing and life-creating".
Grace had her first period within two weeks of the transplant and became pregnant on her first IVF attempt.
"It was incredible to feel her baby's first kick," Grace said, adding the pregnancy had been "really special".
Baby Amy was born by Caesarean section at Queen Charlotte's Hospital on 27 February, weighing just over two kilos.
Holding her daughter for the first time was "incredible" and "surreal", Grace described.
"It was quite overwhelming because we'd never really let ourselves imagine what it would be like for her to be here."
The first baby born from a womb transplant was in Sweden in 2014. Since then, around 135 such transplants have been performed worldwide.
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Grace and Angus hope to have a second child using the transplanted womb
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The UK surgical team has carried out three further womb transplants using deceased donors since Grace's procedure. They aim to complete 15 transplants as part of a clinical trial.
Prof Richard Smith, a gynaecological surgeon who led the organ retrieval team, heads Womb Transplant UK charity, which paid the NHS costs for Grace's operation.
Each transplant costs around £30,000, and the charity has funds for two more procedures. All medical staff gave their time for free.
Grace and Angus hope to have a second child using the transplanted womb before it is removed.
The birth of baby Amy brings hope to many of the 15,000 UK women of childbearing age without a functioning uterus, including 5,000 born without a womb.
