
He totters unsteadily like any other one-year-old, beaming and laughing towards the camera. Yet this beautiful 14-month-old boy, is in fact a walking, not-quite-talking medical miracle.

For little Cash-Douglas, who has big brown eyes and a determined gait, is one of the first children in the world to be born after a successful womb transplant.

His mother, 36-year-old Lolita Wästerlund, from Sweden, was born without a uterus after suffering from a rare medical condition. Yet in a pioneering operation, she was implanted with a womb donated by her sister, who had already given birth four times. Lolita then underwent IVF with her own eggs and her partner's sperm, and astonishingly carried her baby to term just over a year ago.

In an interview with MailOnline, Lolita and her sister, Linda, told of their incredible joy at the 'miracle' of Cash-Douglas's birth and described their hope that the experimental surgery will transform the fortunes of other women suffering from the condition.

'My life has taken a new turn, I am so happy. Just looking at him makes me smile,' Lolita told MailOnline. 'I still have a feeling that this is unreal... It should not have been able to happen, but it did.'

Beautiful miracle: Cash-Douglas, now 14 months old, was born after his mother underwent pioneering surgery to be implanted with her sister's uterus. He is the world's first baby to be born successfully after a womb transplant

Maternal bond: Lolita Wästerlund, 36, was born without a womb after suffering a rare medical condition, but had always wanted children. Her son Cash-Douglas, now 14 months, was born after she received a womb transplant from her sister

Medical miracle: Lolita Wästerlund gave birth to Cash-Douglas, centre, after having her sister Linda's womb implanted and undergoing IVF with her own eggs and her partner's sperm

Incredible gift: Lolita Wästerlund, left, and her sister Linda, right, 40, were always close as youngsters and even before medical science made it possible Linda had promised Lolita that she could use her womb. Now the result is beautiful Cash-Douglas

Lolita, a nurse, learned at the age of 14 that she had no uterus. Born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome - which affects one in 4,500 women worldwide - she was told she would never have children.

Despite her age she always knew she wanted a family, and struggled deeply with discovery. 'You become a woman when you have your first period, and that never happened to me,' she says.

'I felt that I was not a real woman and had problems with my identity and my purpose in life. Meeting men was also very hard. I never really knew when to tell them that I could not have children.

You become a woman when you have your first period, and that never happened to me.

'Should I tell them something that very private on the first dates or should I wait and tell them later with the risk of making them feel like I have cheated them?'

Lolita had working ovaries that produced eggs and hormones, but was still unable to have children. The only option would be surrogacy, which is illegal in Sweden.

'This was a hard blow for me because I really wanted to become a mother at young age. I remember writing in my journal when I was 14 'dear god, please give me a womb where I can bear my child'. I felt that it was unfair, I wanted to become the best mother a child could ever have and now I was not supposed to have children.'

Remarkably, Lolita's sister Linda Västerlund, four years older, had said when the girls were teenagers that she would 'give' her uterus to her – something that was technically impossible at the time as the procedure did not yet exist.

Walking: 14-month-old Cash-Douglas is tottering around like any other one-year-old and is still learning to talk, babbling and saying 'baba'

Heartbreak: Lolita Wästerlund was told at the age of 14 that she suffered from Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, a condition affecting just 5,000 girls, in which you are born with no uterus

Devastated: Lolita told MailOnline that after the diagnosis 'I felt that I was not a real woman and had problems with my identity and my purpose in life. Meeting men was also very hard. I never really knew when to tell them that I could not have children'

Miracle boy: Lolita Västerlund is sharing these magical images of her son Cash-Douglas in the moments after his birth to give hope to other women

Sisterly bond: When Linda Västerlund, centre holding baby, fell pregnant she was worried about telling her sister Lolita, who was then 16, far right in white t-shirt. Lolita had already been diagnosed with the condition that means she did not have a uterus and told that she would not bear children

Linda, now 40, told MailOnline: 'I actually told Lolita 'I wish I could give you mine' when she told me about it back then. I was dead serious. Lolita was always the one of us sisters who absolutely loved children. She really loved the idea of having a child and we all knew that she would be a great mum.'

'We fought a lot as teenagers. But then I became pregnant when I was 20 years old and decided to keep the baby. It was really tough for me to tell Lolita that I was going to have a child.

'I did not know how she would react. It was Lolita who always had wanted to have a child, not me. But Lolita made an active choice to support me and our relationship grew to a very tight bond.'

After spending her late teens and early 20s in and out of depression, Lolita met her now-husband, Patrik Carlerup, a carpenter who instantly put her at her ease by saying children were not a priority for him.

'Me and my husband talked about adopting. But we never really felt like it. I guess the sorrow of not being able to have a child made me felt that it was always going to be someone else´s child. I have full respect for those who are adopting, but it was just not right for me', says Lolita.

But then, in 1999, Lolita's mother read an article about womb transplant research that was being carried out at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg.

Special: Cash-Douglas has had his first day at nursery now he is 14-months-old - a moment his mother thought she would never see or experience

Trailblazer: The 'womb sisters' are very close and Linda, far left, said she had always promised Lolita, in checked shirt holding Cash-Douglas, that she could have her womb

Bond: 'It was really tough for me to tell Lolita that I was going to have a child' says Linda, pictured left. 'I did not know how she would react. It was Lolita who always had wanted to have a child, not me. But Lolita made an active choice to support me and our relationship grew to a very tight bond'

The sisters immediately contacted Professor Mats Brännström, who was carrying out the research.

'We said that we were ready to try when it became a reality,' recalls Lolita.

'We have never even had a discussion about me having her uterus. It was just something that was totally obvious for us.

'I never asked Linda if I could have hers; she was the one who wanted to help me. If she had not wanted to donate, this would never have happened.'

However, it was more than a decade before the procedure became a viable option (a previous attempt, in Saudi Arabia in 2000, resulted in the organ being removed).

Then, in 2011, scientists invited nine women, including Lolita, to a meeting in Gothenburg to share the exciting news – explaining that they were ready to transplant if they had suitable donors. For Linda, who already had four children at that point, the decision was obvious.

'The biggest thing for me was to help my little sister with her life long dream. I am blessed to have been able to done so', says Linda, who had already given birth to four children by then.

After 'hundreds' of checks, blood tests and X-rays – as well as consultations with a psychologist – Linda's uterus was transplanted into her younger sister on 16 March, 2013.

Joy: Lolita says Cash-Douglas is now the light of her life. 'He is very inventive, curious about the world around him and he really loves to eat all kinds of food'

Toddler: 'Right now he is on the verge of saying his first words to us,' Lolita says. 'I am really eager to hear his first words. My life has taken a new turn of course. I am so happy. Just looking at him makes me smile'

Surreal: Lolita says she wandered around in a daze for the majority of her pregnancy – never allowing herself to believe there really was a baby on the way

Recalling the day they underwent the life-changing procedure, Lolita says: 'Linda was under anaesthetic for about 12 hours. They needed to take a lot of tests to be absolutely sure that her uterus was suitable. Then they operated for about six hours to get inside me.'

It was a gruelling 12 months after the operation until Lolita was able to try for a baby; doctors were anxious to make sure the uterus was in good enough health.

The following year, the process began. Lolita had a total of ten embryos injected with Patrik's sperm – an emotionally draining process which saw the first five die within the first few weeks.

'It was a very nervous time for us both,' Lolita recalls. 'We tried again and again, but it did not work. I could see how the eggs was getting smaller and smaller in the freezer.'

Finally, in Autumn 2014, the sixth egg 'stuck'. An emotional Lolita recalls: 'The miracle had happened, I was pregnant.

Tiny: Lolita could not believe she would really give birth until a few weeks before Cash-Douglas arrived, and even now says she wonders whether her beautiful boy is real

Bonding: Cash-Douglas was delivered by C-section in June 2015 and everything went smoothly - Lolita then spent hours gazing at her 'happy boy'

Anxious: Despite being overwhelmed with joy, Lolita admits she could not relax during the pregnancy, fearing something would go wrong and never truly allowing herself to believe that there was a baby on the way until he had arrived

Uncertainty: 'I only came to realise that I was actually going to have a child just a few weeks before he was born,' Lolita says. 'Before that, there was always the uncertainty whether this was going to work. It had never been done successfully before'. Pictured right: Cash-Douglas just hours after birth

'I took the test and saw that I was pregnant. But my husband was at work and I didn't want to tell him over the phone.

'It was late when he finally came home, and I had gotten really upset and told him to sit down with an angry voice. After I told him the good news, he admitted he thought I was going to break up with him.'

Despite being overwhelmed with joy, Lolita admits she could not relax during the pregnancy, fearing something would go wrong and never truly allowing herself to believe that there was a baby on the way.

'I had to go to Gothenburg every two weeks during the pregnancy. There were ultra-sound scans to see that everything was going in the right direction. I realise that I have gotten a VIP treatment during my pregnancy. That this is not normal. On the other hand, nothing was normal about this miracle.

Cheeky: Cash-Douglas, now 14 months, is the fourth baby to be born as a result of a successful womb transplant and doctors hope the procedure will transform the fortunes of women suffering from the condition Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome

Happy families: Cash-Douglas, pictured centre in jeans, with his four older cousins in Sweden, who were all born in the same womb as him. Also pictured second left is a little baby belonging to Lizette, Linda and Lolita's other sister

Happy family: Lolita and her partner Patrik, left, pictured with Cash-Douglas, have just got married. The baby boy is pictured just weeks after birth, right

'I only came to realise that I was actually going to have a child just a few weeks before he was born,' she says. 'Before that, there was always the uncertainty whether this was going to work. It had never been done successfully before.'

Lolita was scheduled for a caesarean in Stockholm at 37 weeks – but it was brought forward by three weeks after she suffered preeclampsia.

'I was of course very nervous giving birth a few weeks early. But the operation went fine. In an indication of the daze that Lolita was in, she says the first thought that came into her mind was the appearance of her baby's nose which had seemed somewhat oversized during the ultrasound – something she now readily laughs about.

'He did have a normal nose,' says Lolita, saying she was overwhelmed as she looked at the 'happy little boy' who weighed just over 3 kilos (around 7 lbs).

One year on, life is idyllic for Lolita, Patrik and Cash-Douglas, who his mother describes as being 'full of energy' and loves nothing more than playing with the TV remote.

Tough: Linda was overjoyed to give her sister the gift of a child, and Lolita says 'The process has been hard, but it was of course worth it. I still have a feeling that this is unreal, it is something that is hard to get a grip on, because it should not have been able to happen'

Learning: Lolita says 'Right now he is on the verge of saying his first words to us. I am really eager to hear his first words. My life has taken a new turn of course. I am so happy. Just looking at him makes me smile.'

Future: Lolita and her husband Patrik have resolved to tell their son the full story about how he came to be – but all in 'due time'

'He is very inventive, curious about the world around him and he really loves to eat all kinds of food,' she says proudly.

'Right now he is on the verge of saying his first words to us. I am really eager to hear his first words. My life has taken a new turn of course. I am so happy. Just looking at him makes me smile.

'The process has been hard, but it was of course worth it. I still have a feeling that this is unreal, it is something that is hard to get a grip on, because it should not have been able to happen.'

Lolita and Patrik have resolved to tell their son the full story about how he came to be – but all in 'due time'.

Curious: 'Cash-Douglas is very inventive, curious about the world around him and he really loves to eat all kinds of food,' Lolita says proudly

And the relationship between herself and her sister has only deepened. 'Both me and my sister have often asked each other what we have gotten ourselves into,' Lolita admits. 'It has been a mix of emotions ranging from hope to anxiety, pure horror, uncertainty and happiness.'

'Our story is important for all the 14-year-olds out there who get the same reply from a doctor that I did.

'Firstly, you are not alone with this problem. The feeling that you are not a woman, there are others that are suffering from the same syndrome. Secondly, because of the research being done, there is hope.'

Linda adds: 'I have not been affected in any sense by removing my uterus. I had already given birth to four children and felt that it was enough. The strange thing is that I feel more feminine now than ever.

'I have blossomed out as a women and I am much more determined with what I want to do with my life.'

Lolita would love to have more children but is unable to do so because the drugs she took damaged her kidney and the uterus had to be removed.

But she is determined to share her good fortune in the hope that others could benefit. 'My story shows that there is hope. I prayed to God for a womb in 1994. Nineteen years later I got one, I was pregnant a year after that. There is hope for women who are born without a uterus.'