An American woman, who hoped to have the first uterus transplant in the country, has spoken out for the first time since the operation failed. Lindsey McFarland, 26, has revealed that her mother has volunteered to be her surrogate since the operation was unsuccessful.
McFarland, together with her husband Blake McFarland, revealed to NBC News the special role to be played by Lindsey's mother. The couple hails from Lubbock, Texas. They underwent the procedure in February and held a press conference to speak about the procedure.
The American news channel reported that soon after the operation, McFarland noticed bleeding from the surgery incision. She was taken back into the theater to attend to the bleeding, when doctors at a clinic in Cleveland discovered a yeast infection. Doctors were then forced to remove the transplanted uterus, the news channel reported.
A week after the uterus was removed doctors had to operate on McFarland for a blocked artery in her leg. Owing to the complex surgery, she is no longer able to undergo a second transplant operation.
McFarland was born without a uterus. However, she does have functioning ovaries. She can conceive but lacks the ability to carry a fetus to term, the news channel reported.
"We're going to take a few years to focus on our boys and me build up strength and get back to normal," McFarland told the news channel. "Then we'll start the process. So we're excited."
The couple has three adopted boys. Prior to the transplant, the couple underwent aggressive bouts of IVF treatment, the Daily Mail reported. Doctors froze the embryos prior to the surgery in the hope of placing them in the transplanted uterus. However, the couple now wants to use those embryos with a surrogate.
The couple met at University and married in 2011. They were selected from more than 200 applicants following months of screening. The clinical trial required 10 eligible women for the surgery, the British publication reported.
Following the removal of the uterus, doctors are now looking into methods to prevent a yeast infection from taking place in such procedures. The infection was owing to a fungus - Candida albicans, the publication reported.
To date media reports suggest that doctors in Sweden pioneered the first successful uterus transplant. Nine of the transplants conducted in Sweden have resulted in five births.
Watch the clip on the McFarland transplant: