Wes Streeting has said womb transplants could “possibly” be available on the NHS in future while calling the first birth from such a procedure as a “medical breakthrough”.
Grace Davidson welcomed the arrival of her "miracle" baby girl Amy Isabel in February, making her the first child in the UK to be born to a mother using a donated womb.
The Health Secretary said: “I think this is really exciting. It’s a really exciting possibility for women who might otherwise not be able to conceive a child.
“I think this is an amazing medical breakthrough.
Asked whether the procedure will ever be provided by the NHS, he said: “Well, quite possibly.
“We have fertility treatment available and there are some people in our country and some aspiring parents who are not able to conceive – and that can be a really difficult moment in people’s lives and relationships, and that’s why novel medical research – IVF, for example – has been game-changing for people who otherwise would not have been able.”
Just four womb transplants have been conducted in the UK so far, each of which were fully funded by the charity Womb Transplant UK.
Other experts have hailed the news as a “huge milestone” and a “miracle” for the family.
Stuart Lavery, consultant in reproductive medicine at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), said: “This amazing event represents both a personal miracle for the couple involved but also a vindication for the team of surgeons and scientists who have for so many years worked tirelessly to get to this place.
“Like so many milestones in UK reproductive medicine, it takes a combination of a courageous patient and a committed and supportive medical team to push the scientific boundaries in the hope of helping more couples have the families they desire.”
Grace was born with a rare condition, Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, where the womb is missing or underdeveloped but with functioning ovaries.
She and her husband, Angus, 37, have named their daughter Amy after Grace's sister, who donated her womb.
