Baby born by ovary transplant is beacon of hope: mother
Time is GMT + 8 hours Posted: 16-Nov-2008 05:07 hrs
A nurse takes care of a newborn in the maternity ward of a hospital in Anadyr, Russia in 2007. A German who made history after becoming the first woman to give birth following a whole ovary transplant said in a British newspaper on Saturday that she felt a "sense of completeness".
A German who made history after becoming the first woman to give birth following a whole ovary transplant said in a British newspaper on Saturday that she felt a "sense of completeness".
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Susanne Butscher, 39, told the Daily Telegraph that her daughter Maja -- named after the Roman goddess of fertility -- would give hope to millions of infertile women around the world.
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Recovering from the birth on Tuesday at the Portland Hospital in London, she said: "Being a mother at last is an indescribable feeling. It's been hard to take my eyes off her since she was born.
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"I'm so lucky to have had this wonderful opportunity which has given me a sense of completeness I would never have had otherwise.
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"I'm happy to be sharing my story with the world to give other women hope who might have similar problems."
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Experts believe the pioneering transplant treatment which Butscher had in the United States last year will benefit women who like her suffer an early menopause.
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They believe it could also give new hope to women suffering cancer who undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer, and who could freeze one of their ovaries before beginning treatment.
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Butscher -- who is from Hamburg but has lived in Britain with German husband Stephan for six years -- had the transplant to halt the advance of osteoporosis which she was suffering as a result of an early menopause.
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She received an ovary from her sister Dorothee and began ovulating naturally for the first time.
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Maja was born by elective caesarean, weighing a healthy 3.2 kilogrammes (7lbs 15oz). — AFP
