Two more North Texas babies have been born after their mothers underwent uterine transplants. The births are part of a clinical trial at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
The baby girls were introduced to the public on Tuesday afternoon. Both mothers were diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser, or MRKH syndrome, a congenital disorder of the female reproductive system where there is either an underdeveloped uterus or no uterus.
"I've been fighting for her before I even knew her, I have loved her before I even know she could exist," said Peyton Meave who was diagnosed with MRKH syndrome at 15.
In June, she gave birth to her daughter, Emersyn Rae.
"Sometimes I still don't believe it. At 15, I was told I'd never meet her. Now she's here, I can't believe she's mine, I can't believe that everything we did paid off," said Meave.
Meave was the third mother in the clinical trial to give birth.
Kayla Edwards is the fourth, welcoming a baby girl named Indy Pearl three weeks ago.
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"She's our miracle," said Edwards. "I get to stare at her and be like, wow, mountains moved to get to you."
Edwards and her husband uprooted their lives in 2016, moving from their home in Washington state to be part of the clinical trial in Dallas.
It required she be matched with a donor, successfully complete a uterine transplant and undergo IVF treatment to become pregnant.
"This is such an amazing feeling and something I never thought would happen for any of us, I think we all feel that way. It can't stop with us. This study, it needs to go forward," Edwards said.
Dr. Liza Johannesson, Medical Director of Uterus Transplantation, said each successful birth bolsters the viability of uterine transplants in future patients.
"The more births we have, the more we show that this is not something you do in one institution in Europe where it started," said Dr. Johannesson. "This is something we can actually reproduce, we can do it, we've had several babies here now and this is something that we can offer to more women out there."
Baylor Dallas says the study has resulted in three additional pregnancies with two more babies due before the end of the year and one more in early 2020.
The procedure is not currently available outside a medical trial, but Edwards hopes the future holds more advancements in infertility treatment for more women.
"People lose their wombs to cancer and other diseases or they're struggling with infertility and IVF, I hope our story of how far we've gone for our babies allows them to continue to reach for theirs," said Edwards.
