Mum Grace, born without a womb, explains impact of donation – ‘Every birthday when I blew out candles I’d wish for a baby… tragic donor made my dreams come true’
A “life giving” decision by one grieving family has meant the birth of the first child in Britain to a mum who received a womb from a dead organ donor.
Hugo Powell’s birth marks the first in the UK using a womb from a deceased donor with only two previous cases ever reported in Europe. His is a remarkable tale of selflessness and hope that comes during Britain’s worst ever organ donation crisis – as 8,235 people await life-changing or lifesaving transplants.
Hugo’s mum, IT worker Grace Bell, had been told aged 16 she would never be able to give birth after being born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH), a rare condition resulting in an underdeveloped or missing womb.
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Breaking down in tears, Grace said she and her partner Steve Powell were “in disbelief” when they discovered she was pregnant, adding: “I felt the luckiest girl in the world. This isn’t a life-saving donation but it is a life-giving one.
“From the moment of my diagnosis, every birthday when I blew out my candles, I would wish for this – to be able to experience pregnancy. I want the donor’s family to know how much of a gift they have given to me. They have fulfilled all of my dreams, everything has come true.”
Hugo was born in December weighing 6lb 13oz (3.1kg) at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London. Describing how she felt when told as a teenager that she had no womb, Grace said she remembers “going into the hospital toilets and uncontrollably crying”.
On meeting finance worker Steve, she told him “straight away” of her diagnosis. The couple had chosen a surrogacy route in order to have a family but then became involved in the womb transplant programme. Grace said: “It’s simply a miracle. I never, ever thought that this would be possible.
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. After the birth I remember waking up in the morning and seeing his little face, with his little dummy in, and it felt like I needed to wake up from a dream. It was just incredible.”
Grace said she thinks of her womb donor every day and the generosity of the donor’s family. She said: “There are no words to say thank you enough to my donor and her family. Their kindness and selflessness to a complete stranger is the reason I have been able to fulfil my lifelong dream of being a mum.
“I hope they know that my child will always know of their incredible gift, and the miracle that brought him into this world. I think of my donor and her family every day and pray they find some peace in knowing their daughter gave me the biggest gift, the gift of life. A part of her will live on forever.”
Five other organs from the donor were transplanted into four people, saving the lives of multiple others. Speaking anonymously, the deceased donor’s parents said in a statement: “Losing our daughter has shattered our world in ways we can barely put into words. The grief is overwhelming and the ache of her absence is something we will carry forever.
“Yet even in this unimaginable pain, we’ve found a small measure of solace in knowing that her final act, her choice, was one of pure generosity. Through organ donation, she has given other families the precious gift of time, hope, healing and now life.
“As her parents, we feel tremendous pride at the legacy she leaves behind – a legacy of compassion, courage and love that continues to touch lives even after her passing. We urge others to consider donation so that more people in desperate need may be given the chance to live, just as our daughter so selflessly wished.”
Describing Hugo’s birth by Caesarean section, Grace said: “I remember there were lots and lots of people in the room running around. I was holding Steve’s hand at the time. I remember trying to peek over the drapes, and Hugo finally got put in my arms… since I was 16, I never thought this was going to be possible.”
Mr Powell said: “When he came over the curtain, it was just sort of overwhelming emotions. I felt like I wanted to cry but couldn’t. From where we started it’s nothing short of a miracle after everything we’ve been through.”
Grace and Steve decided to give Hugo the middle name Richard, after Professor Richard Smith, clinical lead of the charity Womb Transplant UK and consultant gynaecological surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Prof Smith, who was present at the birth, said: “This brought a tear to my eye. As the baby was handed over, the parents said they were actually going to call the baby Hugo Richard. I’ve delivered over 1,000 babies in my life. Never has a baby been named after me. That did make me cry… it’s been quite emotional.”
The NHS transplant waiting list is at a record high with thousands of people waiting and dying before they get an organ after a post-pandemic drop in donors. As of yesterday some 8,235 patients were on the NHS transplant waiting list which is the highest on record. In the past decade nearly 5,000 people have died waiting for a life-saving transplant.
The rate of bereaved families supporting donation has fallen to 59%, down from 68% before Covid-19. That is because even though “presumed consent” is now in place across the NHS, bereaved families still have the right to veto transplant. Also an extra degree of family consent is required for wombs because they are not covered by normal consent procedures, similar to novel transplants like hands and face. The families of those who have died are asked specifically if they wish to donate the womb.
Hugo’s birth is the first in the UK using a womb from a deceased donor. About 25 to 30 babies have been born worldwide from deceased womb donation. Last year surgeons announced the UK’s first baby born from a womb transplant involving a living donor. Grace Davidson, received a donor womb – also called the uterus – in 2023 from her older sister Amy.
Womb transplants are still a pioneering field and two thirds involve living donors. Womb Transplant UK has now performed and paid for five womb transplants in the UK so far – two involving a living donor and three using a deceased donor. Two babies have been born and three transplant patients have not had a baby yet, but are undergoing private IVF.
Bryony Jones, a consultant obstetrician at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust who has delivered both the UK babies born after womb transplants, said: “I have the best job – delivering any baby is really exciting. But this baby was particularly special. We are very honest with the patients who are part of the programme that our knowledge, worldwide, isn’t great about this, and clearly it’s part of ongoing research.”
Prof Smith added: “We’re constrained mainly by cash. I think it’s really important to say that most of the women who’ve come through our system so far have been born with no womb, but there’s a huge number of women out there who’ve lost their womb because of cancer or haemorrhage.
“So there’s a lot more people out there who may potentially benefit from this procedure. Probably, we know 5,000 women in the UK are born with no womb, but we also know there’s probably in total about 15,000 women of reproductive age who would potentially like to have a womb.”
Women can only get on a list to receive a womb donation via the charity funding the work as it is not offered routinely on the NHS.
After years of campaigning by the Mirror, the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act – also known as “Max and Keira’s Law” – came into effect in England in May 2020. It brought the country into line with the system in Wales and Scotland, then Northern Ireland followed suit in June 2023.
There is now an ‘opt-out’ system meaning that adults are presumed to be organ donors after their death unless they have specifically registered as not wanting to donate. However, crucially, grieving relatives can still veto transplants. A drop in donors comes at the same time as increasing demand from our ageing population.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) insists it is just as vital as ever that people sign the Organ Donor Register to make their wishes clear. This does not mean they are consenting to donate their womb. Click HERE to register your decision and join the Organ Donation Register.
