A baby boy has become the first child in the UK to be born from a womb transplanted from a deceased donor. Grace Bell, who is in her 30s and was born without a functioning womb, described her son Hugo—now 10 weeks old—as “simply a miracle.” Bell and her partner, Steve Powell from Kent, expressed deep gratitude to the donor and her family for their “kindness and selflessness,” calling the transplant an “incredible gift.” They also thanked the medical teams in Oxford and London who guided them through the process. The surgeons involved hailed the birth as a “ground-breaking moment,” one that could offer new hope to many women facing similar challenges
Incredible gift‘
Hugo was born just before Christmas 2025 at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in west London, weighing nearly seven pounds. His mother, Grace Bell, is one of about 5,000 women in the UK affected by MRKH syndrome—a condition in which women are born without a womb and do not menstruate, though their ovaries function normally. At 16, Bell was told she would never be able to carry her own child.
For her and her partner, Steve Powell, the only possibilities were surrogacy or the hope of a womb transplant. When Bell received the call that a donor womb had become available, she recalled being “in complete shock” but also “really excited.” At the same time, she was deeply conscious of the donor family’s extraordinary generosity. “I think of my donor and her family every day and pray they find peace in knowing their daughter gave me the greatest gift—the gift of life,” Bell said.
“A part of her will live on forever.”
Bell’s womb transplant operation lasted 10 hours and took place at The Churchill Hospital in Oxford in June 2024, before the couple received IVF treatment some months later – followed by embryo transfer – at The Lister Fertility Clinic in London. When Hugo was born, Bell said, “It was simply a miracle. “I remember waking up in the morning and seeing his little face, with his little dummy in, and it felt like I needed to wake up from a dream.
“It was just incredible.”
Bell’s successful womb transplant from a deceased donor is just one of 10 such transplants taking place as part of a UK clinical research trial. Three have already been carried out, but this is the first baby born. In early 2025, baby Amy was born through the first living womb donation in the UK. Her mother received her older sister’s womb in a transplant operation in January 2023. Her sister had already had two children of her own.
Five other womb transplants from close living relatives in the UK are planned. Hope for women born without a womb. Amy was born at the same London hospital as Hugo. The medical team behind both births has been building towards this moment for many years.
Consultant gynaecologist Prof Richard Smith, from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, started researching womb transplantation more than 25 years ago and was present at Hugo’s birth. He said “a huge team of people” had been involved in the process – from the transplant operation to the embryo transfer and the delivery itself. Bell and Powell showed their gratitude to Smith, who also founded the charity Womb Transplant UK, by giving their son the middle name of Richard.
The couple may decide to have a second baby, after which surgeons will remove the transplanted womb. This is to save Bell from taking a lifetime of strong drugs to prevent the body’s immune system from attacking the transplanted organ. Transplant surgeon and joint team leader Isabel Quiroga said she was “delighted” by Hugo’s birth and called it a breakthrough for organ transplantation in the UK.
“Very few babies have been born in Europe as a result of their mothers receiving a womb from a deceased donor,” she said. “Our trial is seeking to discover whether this procedure could become an approved and regular treatment for some of the increasing number of women of childbearing age who do not have a viable womb.”
Smith said the birth showed that girls and young women who were told they didn’t have a womb could now have hope of carrying their own child. A baby born following the transplantation of a womb from a deceased donor does not have any genetic links with the donor. More than 100 womb transplant operations have been performed around the world and more than 70 healthy babies have been born as a result.
Unlike organs such as the kidneys or the heart, womb donation for transplant is not automatically included in standard organ donation. It requires a special request to families who have already consented to donate their relative’s organs. In the UK, unless an individual has opted out, it is assumed they agree to organ donation after death.
The donor’s parents, who have chosen to remain anonymous, expressed “tremendous pride” in the legacy their daughter left behind. In addition to her womb, she donated five other organs that were successfully transplanted into four recipients. “Through organ donation, she has given other families the precious gift of time, hope, healing, and now life,” her family said.
Source: BBC