“IF A person walked in tomorrow and requested a uterine transplant, I am cautiously optimistic that we could be successful.” So says Giuseppe Del Priore, of New York Downtown Hospital, who has approval for such a transplant from the hospital’s review board. He has potential donors lined up, and is interviewing women who would like to receive a donated uterus.

Thousands of women with perfectly good ovaries but lacking a functioning uterus would be interested. If a uterus transplant was carried out tomorrow, it would only be the second ever. Would it be safe? The first was in Saudi Arabia …