Britain’s first clinical trial of human uterine transplantation is set to start in the New Year, it was announced last night.
Developers said they had gained the necessary ethical and regulatory approvals to begin the programme.
The trial at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, is due to involve ten women patients.
It is being coordinated by a charity called Womb Transplant UK, which is seeking to raise £500,000.
It says it has a list of 104 women who meet the criteria for treatment.
Similar transplants have already been undertaken in Sweden and have led to at least one live birth.
Women who take part need normally functioning ovaries and their own eggs and will be aged between 25 and 38 and in a long-term relationship.
Consultant gynaecologist Richard Smith, who has led the project, said: “As we have seen from the tremendously successful womb transplant programme being carried out by our colleagues in Sweden, this operation is clearly a viable option for those women who otherwise have absolutely no chance of carrying their own baby.
“Absolute infertility can bring with it terrible consequences for as many as 50,000 women of childbearing age in the UK who do not have a viable womb. We hope to begin a series of ten operations early in the New Year.
"However, we still need to raise around half a million pounds so that we can cover the costs of NHS services and complete our programme."
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