Born without a uterus: Can you have periods, get pregnant and other questions answered

Can you get pregnant? Will you get periods? What happens when a woman doesn't have uterus?

By: Bhavyajyoti Chilukoti | | Updated: May 19, 2017 10:07 pm

You might have heard of a kidney transplant, liver transplant but never of uterine transplant. Done for the first time in India, uterine transplant is a completely new technical procedure which is a boon for women who are born without the uterus but want to conceive. The first uterine transplant was done in a woman without a uterus in a hospital in Pune, where the uterus from a mother was transplanted into her daughter. While the technique has grabbed many eyeballs, the main question is what is it for a woman to live a life without a uterus. What are challenges she has to face? Are there any hormonal changes that happen in a woman with no uterus? Can she get her periods? And may more. So we asked gynaecologist and infertility expert Dr Duru Shah, President, Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction (ISAR) and Scientific Director of Gynaecworld and the Gynaecworld Assisted Fertility Center, Mumbai to shed light on what it is like to be born without a uterus and how it affects menstruation and pregnancy. Here is what she has to say. Also Read - Does your anomaly scan say you have posterior placenta? Here is what it means

Also Read - Scientists discover cells vital for development of a healthy uterus

1. Globally, it is reported that this condition affects one in 5000 women at birth. Although there are no clear statistic data available in India, experts say that it is rare in India. Also Read - Folic acid: Your best friend during those nine months of pregnancy

2. There is a common misconception that this condition runs in the family (hereditary), which is true in very few cases. It is a congenital condition meaning it happens during the developmental stages of the fetus when a woman is pregnant.

3. Few factors can put the growing embryo and fetus at risk of this condition. This includes the use of medications which can have an effect on the fetus during pregnancy or exposure to environmental toxins. It can also happen if the process of fertilisation goes wrong. Here are 5 reasons why you should think twice before using fertility drugs.

4. As there is no uterus, a woman suffering from this condition does not have periods. No uterus, no periods. However, she might have fully functional ovaries, as ovaries are produced from a different set of cells, unlike vagina. The upper part of the vagina and uterus are developed from the same set of cells during developmental stages of the fetus and hence, in most cases, a woman with no uterus can also lack the vagina. However, the vagina can be artificially developed and put into a woman.

5. If a woman lacks uterus at birth but has functional ovaries, then she might have all the secondary sexual characters of a woman such as proper breast development and hair growth as the hormones are produced properly. Ovaries are the organs that produce female hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone.

6. No uterus means no pregnancy. With uterus or part of vagina not developed, uterus transplant is the only option available for a woman to conceive. However, if a woman wants to conceive, she can go in for surrogacy. Here’s more on what is surrogacy.

7. As far as leading an active sex life, lack of uterus does not cause any harm if ovaries are functional. A woman can be sexually active if she has the vagina and normally functioning ovaries.

8. An egg is fertilised in the fallopian tube when a sperm travels through the uterus to the fallopian tube, after which the uterus picks ups the embryo for implantation. However, in the absence of a uterus, an egg released from the ovaries every month is absorbed in the pelvis within 48 hours after being released from the ovary.

9. If there are no ovaries, vagina and uterus, then numerous hormonal changes can happen in the body. As the hormone production is altered due to lack of ovaries, women tend to grow older faster. Also, lack of hormones can lead to brittle bones and also puts you at risk of cardiac problems. In such a case, hormone therapy is the preferred treatment option for a woman till she turns 50 – 52 years old (which is the age a woman produces hormones). However, if you do not have ovaries, which is known as a premature ovarian failure, but normal uterus and vagina, then you can get pregnant with eggs from a donor, which are fertilised and implanted in the womb. In this case, the child does not carry the same genes as the mother, but she can be her biological mother. Also read about what is adenomyosis or bulky uterus?

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Published : May 19, 2017 6:18 pm | Updated:May 19, 2017 10:07 pm

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