Doctors perform first uterus transplant in U.S.

Surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic have performed the first uterus transplant in the United States, using the uterus from a deceased organ donor, the hospital said this week.

The 26-year-old patient -- who is not being identified publicly -- was in stable condition after a nine-hour surgery on Wednesday, the Cleveland Clinic said in a statement.

The hospital said it would attempt a total of 10 transplants in women with uterine factor infertility, meaning they were either born without a uterus or have suffered irreversible uterine damage.

Uterine factor infertility affects three percent to five percent of women worldwide, and uterus transplant, considered highly experimental, offers these patients their only chance to carry a pregnancy.

In a statement on Friday, Owen Davis, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, called uterus transplant "complex scientifically, surgically and ethically."

"This procedure potentially offers another route to family building for women either born without uteri or those who have had to have their uterus removed," Davis said. "Unfortunately, some women live in jurisdictions whose governments will not allow the use of a gestational carrier. Uterine transplant may allow these women to have children."

Internationally, it was announced in 2014 that, for the first time, a healthy baby had been born to a uterine transplant recipient in Sweden.

To date, the Swedish group behind the procedure has performed nine uterus transplants, achieving five pregnancies and four live births, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Enditem