--- title: The First Baby Has Been Born After a Uterus Transplant From a Deceased Donor description: Doctors in Brazil delivered the first baby born by uterus transplant from a deceased donor. A year later, the mother and baby are healthy. canonical: https://time.com/5470217/uterus-transplant-deceased-donor/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-04T23:30:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:11:31.000Z article:section: Health og:title: The First Baby Has Been Born After a Uterus Transplant From a Deceased Donor og:description: She's now almost a year old og:url: https://time.com/5470217/uterus-transplant-deceased-donor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2f2d7eb6c0e865/6989408097cdff0ebf6b6e35/transplante-ucc81tero_02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4032 og:image:height: 2268 og:image:alt: uterus-transplant og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The First Baby Has Been Born After a Uterus Transplant From a Deceased Donor twitter:description: She's now almost a year old twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2f2d7eb6c0e865/6989408097cdff0ebf6b6e35/transplante-ucc81tero_02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The First Baby Has Been Born After a Uterus Transplant From a Deceased Donor > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6a6a6589-b9d4-4b63-93b4-2335a6ad4400&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6a6a6589-b9d4-4b63-93b4-2335a6ad4400&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=6a6a6589-b9d4-4b63-93b4-2335a6ad4400&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6a6a6589-b9d4-4b63-93b4-2335a6ad4400&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Dec 4, 2018 11:30 PM UTC  The medical team after the baby's birth. The medical team after the baby's birth. Divulgação Hospital das Clínicas da FMUSP  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Dec 4, 2018 11:30 PM UTC The world’s first baby born by a uterus transplant from a deceased donor is healthy and nearing her first birthday, according to [a new case study](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2818%2931766-5/fulltext) published Tuesday in _the Lancet._ [Uterus transplants](http://time.com/5044565/exclusive-first-u-s-baby-born-after-a-uterus-transplant/) have [become more common](http://time.com/5184291/uterus-transplant-baylor-university/) in recent years, resulting in 11 live births around the world. But all of the other successful deliveries so far have been made possible by living donors — often women who opt to donate their uterus to a close friend or family member without one. The birth resulting from the case detailed in _the Lancet_, which took place at Brazil’s Hospital das Clínicas last December, is both the first in the world to involve a uterus from a deceased woman, and the first from any uterus transplant in Latin America. The baby’s birth suggests that more women who suffer from uterine infertility — including those who have undergone hysterectomies for reasons ranging from cancer to [endometriosis](http://time.com/5157553/lena-dunham-hysterectomy-vogue/) — may be able to take advantage of the procedure moving forward, says paper co-author Dr. Dani Ejzenberg, who oversaw the case and is a medical faculty member in the division of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of São Paulo. “The successful case in our service brings hope to other centers that believe in this type of transplant,” Ejzenberg said in an email to TIME. “It is also a source of hope for those patients who \[do not have a uterus\] or who have lost it unexpectedly and do not have a family member or close friend to donate the uterus.” The patient was a 32-year-old woman with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes the vagina or uterus to either under-develop or not develop at all. The woman had ovaries and a vagina, but no uterus. When a 45-year-old mother of three died in September 2016 from a stroke that caused a brain bleed, doctors identified her as a match for the MRKH patient. Shortly thereafter, surgeons performed a uterus transplant, connecting the donor organ to the recipient’s veins, arteries, ligaments and vaginal canals during a surgery that lasted more than 10 hours. After the transplant, the woman began a regimen of immunosuppressant medication to ensure she would not reject the donor organ. The patient began menstruating about a month after surgery. And just seven months after the operation, doctors began in vitro fertilization, through which the woman’s own fertilized eggs — which had been harvested prior to the transplant surgery — were transferred to her new uterus. She became pregnant after just one embryo transfer. “The pregnancy in the first attempt, with the transfer of only one embryo, surprised us, but we were confident of achieving gestation due to the quality of the staff of our human reproduction center that has worked for 15 years with good results,” Ejzenberg says. Aside from a kidney infection that was treated with antibiotics, the woman had a healthy and normal pregnancy. Around 35 weeks, doctors performed a [caesarean section](http://time.com/5421982/c-section-birth/) and delivered a healthy baby girl, weighing nearly six pounds and measuring almost 18 inches long. The donor uterus was removed during delivery, Ejzenberg says, since the team’s study involved only one birth per mother. Removal of the donor organ also allowed the woman to stop taking immunosuppressant medication. Though it’s never been done before, Ejzenberg says “theoretically, it may be possible” to someday use such discarded organs for secondary transplants. Almost exactly a year after the baby’s historic birth, Ejzenberg says she is developing normally and her mother feels “fulfilled.” The demonstrated success of a procedure involving a deceased donor, he says, may spare live donors from undergoing risky procedures, and make transplants possible for far more women. Those possibilities, paired with improved surgical practices, means uterus transplantation could someday become a standard procedure, Ejzenberg says. “The increase in the number of centers performing this transplant, standardization of the surgical technique and immunosuppressive therapy can facilitate access to this new modality of treatment,” he says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5470217/uterus-transplant-deceased-donor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5470217/uterus-transplant-deceased-donor/"},"headline":"The First Baby Has Been Born After a Uterus Transplant From a Deceased Donor","datePublished":"2018-12-04T23:30:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:11:31.000Z","description":"She's now almost a year old","url":"https://time.com/5470217/uterus-transplant-deceased-donor/","keywords":["fertility","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2f2d7eb6c0e865/6989408097cdff0ebf6b6e35/transplante-ucc81tero_02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2f2d7eb6c0e865/6989408097cdff0ebf6b6e35/transplante-ucc81tero_02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"uterus-transplant","caption":"uterus-transplant","creditText":"Divulgação Hospital das Clínicas da FMUSP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/fertility/","name":"fertility"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5470217/uterus-transplant-deceased-donor/","name":"The First Baby Has Been Born After a Uterus Transplant From a Deceased Donor"}}]}] ```