The womb transplant took place during a surgery that lasted more than nine hours at a hospital in Oxford.

The UK made medical history by performing the country’s first uterine transplant.

Surgeons at Churchill Hospital in Oxford successfully transplanted a sister’s womb to her 34-year-old brother in an operation that took nine hours and 20 minutes on Sunday, according to local media.

The operation to remove the donor’s uterus lasted more than eight hours.

“It was amazing. I think it was probably the most stressful week of my surgical career, but also incredibly positive,” Richard Smith, the operation’s lead surgeon, told the UK’s Press Association.

“The giver and the receiver are in heaven, just in heaven.”

The recipient of the uterus, also known as the uterus, was diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH), a rare condition that affects the reproductive system in women.

In order to conceive, she stored her embryos with the aim of undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments later this year.

But her sister, 40, was willing to donate her uterus after giving birth to her two children, facilitating a uterine transplant procedure.

Isabel Quiroga, the other main surgeon involved in the operation, said that “the recipient’s uterus was working perfectly”.

The transplant is expected to last a maximum of five years before the uterus is removed and during this time the recipient will need to take immunosuppressive drugs to ensure she does not reject the implant, according to the Press Association report.

Smith said the woman can now get pregnant.

“I hope this embryo will take, and I hope nine months later, [have a] Cesarean,” he said.

“Once she has had a C-section, she has a choice – six months later – between a full hysterectomy or going to have another baby,” he added.

Kate Brintworth, Chief Midwifery Officer at NHS England, said: “On behalf of the entire health service, I would like to extend my best wishes for a speedy recovery to the donor and recipient on what is an incredible milestone. . »

Womb transplants have already been performed in countries such as the United States and Sweden.

Quiroga added that more and more women are contacting the Womb Transplant UK charity to donate their wombs and help other women.

“So yes, there will definitely be a time when it becomes a major source of donors,” she said.

A second womb transplant is due to take place in a few months in the UK.