Sisters Make History With UK’s First Womb Transplant Birth

From surrogates to egg and sperm donors, modern medicine—combined with the generosity of others—is opening new doors to parenthood. Sisters Amy Purdie and Grace Davidson took that hope to the next level, making history with the first baby in the UK born from a living womb donor.

Davidson was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, a rare condition that meant she had no functioning uterus. After nearly a decade of exhausting other options, Grace and her husband Angus turned to a groundbreaking solution—and to Grace’s older sister for help.

Amy Purdie, a mother of two and former teacher, didn’t hesitate. In May 2023, she donated her womb to Grace in a pioneering transplant surgery. Months later, following a successful recovery, one embryo was transferred via IVF—and Grace was pregnant.

On February 27, the couple welcomed their daughter, Amy Isabel, named in honor of her aunt and her surgeon, Isabel Quiroga. “There were lots of tears,” Grace told The Independent. “It was a full theatre with all the people who had helped us on the journey. But in that moment, it wasn’t just about medicine—it was about family, and love, and a baby who was finally here.”

“It was just hard to believe she was real. I knew she was ours, but it’s just hard to believe…” she added. “Our family are just so happy for us. It sort of feels like there’s a completeness now where there maybe wasn’t before.”

The Davidsons hope to try for a second child, pending medical approval. After that, the donated womb will be removed so Grace can stop taking daily immunosuppressants, which prevent her body from rejecting the organ.

While this was the UK’s first successful womb transplant birth from a living donor, the medical field has been advancing rapidly worldwide. The first baby born after a womb transplant occurred in Sweden in 2014. Since then, more than 135 womb transplants have been performed across over a dozen countries—including the US, China, France, Germany, India, and Turkey—with approximately 65 resulting in live births.