For most of her life, Grace Bell didn’t think she would be able to have a baby.
The IT programme manager from Kent was born with a rare condition known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH), where the uterus is underdeveloped or absent.
However, she’s since become the first mother in the UK to give birth after receiving a womb transplant from a deceased donor.
Her son, Hugo Powell, was born in December at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, weighing 6lb and 13oz.
‘It’s simply a miracle,’ Grace said. ‘I never, ever thought that this would be possible.’
Grace was diagnosed with MRKH when she was just 16 and recalls ‘uncontrollably crying’ in a hospital toilet after being told by doctors that she had no womb.
When she met her partner, Steve Powell, she told him about her diagnosis ‘straight away’ and the pair, both in their 30s, had planned to go down the surrogacy route to start a family. However, they later became involved in the womb transplant programme with Womb Transplant UK.
After several years in the programme, Grace received word that she would be getting a transplant, and in 2024, underwent an operation lasting more than seven hours at the Oxford Transplant Centre, before beginning private fertility treatment.
The day she found out she was pregnant, she says she felt like ‘the luckiest girl in the world’.
‘From the moment of my diagnosis, every birthday when I blew out my candles, I would wish for this – to be able to experience pregnancy,’ Grace said.
Hugo was born by Caesarean section, and the birth was an ‘unreal’ experience for both Grace and Steve.
‘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,’ Grace recalls.
Steve, who works in finance, adds: ‘From where we started – first meeting – to where we are today, with Hugo, is nothing short of a miracle after everything we’ve been through.’
The couple may decide to have a second baby at some point, after which time surgeons will remove the transplanted womb.
If it was left in situ, Grace would face a lifetime of taking immunosuppressant drugs, which carry risks such as infection, high blood pressure and even cancer.
But Grace isn’t worrying about any of that right now, as she’s the happiest she’s ever been in her life.
‘There are no words to say thank you enough to my donor and her family,’ she says.
‘Their kindness and selflessness to a complete stranger is the reason I have been able to fulfil my lifelong dream of being a mum.’
The new parent adds that she thinks of her womb donor every day and will ensure her child knows of the ‘miracle’ that brought him into the world.
And while she calls her donation a ‘life-giving’ one, as opposed to a life-saving one, her donor did in fact save several people’s lives, with five of her other organs donated and transplanted into people in need.
Her family has shared how their daughter’s final act has given them a small piece of solace amid their overwhelming grief.
‘Losing our daughter has shattered our world in ways we can barely put into words,’ her parents said.
‘Yet even in this unimaginable pain, we’ve found a small measure of solace in knowing that her final act, her choice, was one of pure generosity.
‘Through organ donation, she has given other families the precious gift of time, hope, healing and now life.
‘As her parents, we feel tremendous pride at the legacy she leaves behind – a legacy of compassion, courage and love that continues to touch lives even after her passing.
‘We urge others to consider donation so that more people in desperate need may be given the chance to live, just as our daughter so selflessly wished.’
What is MRKH?
Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser syndrome is a condition characterised by a shortened vagina, absent cervix, and an absent or underdeveloped uterus (womb).
According to the NHS, the ovaries are present and function in the same way as those of any other woman.
There are two different classifications of MRKH: Type I and Type II, with Type I described as above and Type II characterised by having additional differences such as variations in urinary tract and kidney development, hearing difficulties or bone changes.
How do you know if you have it?
The condition affects one in every 5,000 women in the UK.
Women usually discover they have MRKH during puberty, as they do not start having periods.
This is because the ovaries produce the female hormones that allow puberty to occur, but the absence of the uterus means there’s no period.
To get a diagnosis, you’ll need to speak to a GP, and they may refer you to a gynaecologist for further investigations. This could include blood tests, examinations, ultrasound scans or an MRI.
About 25 to 30 babies have been born worldwide from deceased womb donation to date, with Hugo being the very first in the UK.
More than two-thirds of these transplants have involved living donors, while a third come from deceased donors.
The latter only happens when the families of those who have died are asked specifically if they wish to donate the womb. This is because the womb is not covered by the normal consent for donation, nor by joining the organ donor register, and it is not covered by deemed consent, which presumes people want to donate unless they opt out.
Womb Transplant UK has performed and paid for five transplants in the UK, with the first taking place in 2023. It involved Grace Davidson, another MRKH patient, receiving a woman from her older sister, Amy, in a living donation.
Of these five, two babies have been born, and three patients are currently undergoing private IVF.
Becky Clarke, regional head of nursing for the Midlands and South Central Organ Donation Teams at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: ‘Our specialist nurses for organ donation are highly trained, experienced nurses who will speak to families at the time their loved one has sadly died, and approach them around organ donation.
‘They will check whether the person’s on the Organ Donor Register, and then speak with the family and see whether it’s something they’re in agreement with.
‘Once we’ve ascertained that, then we would seek further consent from the families and approach them if they want to consider, as an extra consent, to womb donation.
‘Our experience of approaching the small number of families is the vast majority have immediately wanted to agree.
‘They think it’s a wonderful thing to do.’
She added: ‘We are very grateful to any families who choose to give the additional consent for donation to this programme.’
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