The first week in December was a momentous occasion for surgeons participating in Baylor's uterine transplant clinical trial. Why? They had their first birth of the trial.

Uterine transplants are very new, and even more uncommon. Many people once thought this was impossible, but thanks to two different clinical trials it's looking quite possible.

Infertility is a heartbreaking factor for many women, and even more heartbreaking for women with absolute uterine-factor infertility, also known as AUFI. Women with this abnormality either don't have a uterus, don't have a working uterus, or are just unable to conceive. Only about 5% of women have this problem in the United States.

The birth of this baby is the first successful birth in America from a uterine transplant. However, it is not the first born in the world. This took place in Sweden.

The first successful uterine transplant came about in 2012 when the procedure was accomplished at the University of Gothenburg. The donor for this transplant happened to be the mother of the patient. She didn't conceive and give birth until about 2014. They have birthed almost a dozen infants up to date from the trial.

One of the surgeons working on the Swedish clinical trial came to assist with Baylor's. They've had around 8-10 volunteers, although this anonymous volunteer is the first successful one so far. Nonetheless, another woman in the trial is pregnant and one more is in the process of conceiving.

Donors can be related or unrelated, and each woman goes through a lengthy mental examination over the coming weeks prior to selection. The transplant takes about 10-16 hours, about 5 for each extraction and placement.

Once successful the patient undergoes lots of observation and tests. If the body does not reject the uterus they are ready to begin IVF. However, if rejection is a problem corticosteroids are administered, and the process is usually able to go back to normal.

Interestingly, the uterus acts as if it would if it were your own, menses are still present shockingly. One thing is still different though, the uterus is only viable for one birth so far, and it's removed right after.

Nonetheless, this clinical trial is breaking barriers for women who once thought birth would be possible, and that alone is truly amazing.

If you'd like to read more on Baylor's groundbreaking clinical trial you can do so here.