A miracle baby who was born thanks to a groundbreaking procedure is giving hope to women who struggle with infertility.
Jennifer Gobrecht, of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, gave birth to her son Benjamin in November. For Jennifer and her husband Drew, it was the culmination of a truly historic medical journey.
“Benjamin is the second baby born in the United States to a woman who’s received a uterus transplant from a deceased donor and the third in the world,” Dr. Kathleen O’Neill of Penn Medicine said.
Jennifer was born without a uterus due to Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. The syndrome is one of various forms of infertility that impacts hundreds of thousands of women worldwide. With few options other than adoption or surrogacy, Jennifer and Drew joined a clinical trial at Penn Medicine.
“It was hard but worth it,” Drew said. “One hundred percent worth it.”
With a massive medical team working with her, Jennifer successfully received a uterus from a deceased donor.
“There’s no measure to how important that is and how much that meant to us that this family was able to preserve her legacy but also to help us create the life and the family we’ve always wanted,” Jennifer said.
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As Jennifer and Drew mark every milestone with baby Benjamin, they want other couples who struggle with infertility to remain hopeful.
“Explore your options,” Jennifer said. “Try a trial. You’ll never know unless you kind of put yourself out there a little bit and give yourself these opportunities to try different fertility treatments.”
Researchers said everything they’ve learned through the procedure will help them understand more about pregnancy and transplants which will ultimately not only create but also save more lives in the future.
