Internet stranger gave me her uterus to end my fertility struggle – the op was 10 hours but I was determined to be a mum
CHELSEA Jovanovich, 37, lives in Montana, USA, with husband Jake, 40, an accountant, and their sons Telden, three, and Stetson, two.
“Lying on the hospital bed, as the sonographer took an ultrasound of my abdomen, I heard the rushing sound of blood and exhaled with relief – my uterus was working. I say ‘my’, but just 36 hours before, it had been in another woman’s body.
I was only 15 when my mum took me to the doctor because my period still hadn’t started. Initial tests couldn’t explain it, so a month later I had exploratory surgery.
Doctors told me I had Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH) – a rare congenital disorder that meant I had a partially developed uterus, which the doctors removed during my surgery.
I would never menstruate or carry a baby. I was devastated.
Although I was still a teenager, I’d wanted children one day.
Mum supported me through the shock, but it was a lot to take in.
Time passed and, in 2010, I met Jake at university.
After a couple of weeks, I explained to him about my diagnosis and he was amazing, telling me not to worry.
Jake and I got engaged in August 2017, then a year later we had IVF using Jake’s sperm and my eggs (my ovaries were unaffected by my condition), and created embryos that we planned to use with a friend who’d offered to act as a surrogate.
However, before we could transfer an embryo, we received the crushing news that, due to a problem with the surrogate’s uterus, it couldn’t go ahead.
We were so upset, and we weren’t emotionally able to start that process all over again with a stranger.
A few years previously, I’d read about the first clinical uterus transplant trial in Sweden.
And in December 2018, soon after Jake and I got married, I discovered the University of Pennsylvania, 2,000 miles away from where we lived, was running a trial.
I applied and was accepted on to the trial in December 2019, but I still didn’t allow myself to get my hopes up that I might finally become a mum.
On Christmas Eve that year, I received a call – a woman wanted to donate her uterus, and doctors believed she and I were a good physical match.
Friends and family were concerned about potential complications from me undergoing major surgery, but I was determined
This incredible stranger was making a huge sacrifice for me.
Donors had to have completed their own family, had multiple medical tests and weren’t paid. I felt a strong bond between us, even though I knew nothing about her.
Friends and family were concerned about potential complications from me undergoing major surgery, but I was determined.
Coming round from the 10-hour operation in February 2020 and hearing the words: ‘You have a uterus,’ was surreal. Learning that my donor was recovering well too, was a huge relief.
Then, getting my first period two weeks later, at the age of 32, was both exciting and terrifying.
That August, our first embryo transfer failed, but we tried again, and in October I wept when a pregnancy test was positive.
I was desperate to thank my donor, and medics told me her name was Cheryl.
We began emailing and I learned she was a mum of two, who had donated after seeing the medical trial on TV.
In May 2021, I had a maternity photo shoot and invited Cheryl.
Meeting her in person and hugging her tightly, she felt like a sister to me.
She was so thrilled to feel the baby move in the uterus she’d given me.
Kissing his perfect, newborn face was incredible. I was a mum at last
At 34 weeks pregnant, I had a planned caesarean – I had pre-eclampsia and doctors didn’t want to progress my pregnancy any further in case of complications.
Our son Telden was born weighing 4lb 2oz.
Kissing his perfect, newborn face was incredible. I was a mum at last.
The uterus was left inside me so I could try for another baby in the future.
Five weeks later, Cheryl met Telden.
Seeing him in her arms was so special, because he wouldn’t have existed without her.
Our son Stetson was born in October 2022, weighing 7lb 5oz, using another frozen embryo, and my uterus was then removed, as is protocol after two births.
Today, I look at my miracle boys running around in superhero outfits, and I’m overwhelmed with love.
Thanks to the scientists, doctors and a stranger I’m still in contact with, my dream of motherhood came true.”
BTW
The first uterus transplant in the UK took place in August 2023
More than 100 transplants have been carried out worldwide, with about half leading to a live birth (Source: Scientific American)