Dr. Richard Paulson, a fertility doctor has said that in theory, men could attempt to become pregnant as soon as “tomorrow”, thanks to advances in uterus transplant surgeries.
Paulson is the outgoing president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, ASRM.
He said it would be possible to perform uterus transplants on transgender women, who are born male and transited to female.
Paulson spoke at ASRM’s annual meeting, where he noted that he sees no biological reason why the procedure wouldn’t work in the male body.
“You could do it tomorrow,” Paulson said.
“There would be additional challenges, but I don’t see any obvious problem that would preclude it.
“I personally suspect there are going to be trans women who are going to want to have a uterus and will likely get the transplant.”
But other experts point out that the procedure isn’t even mainstream for women, let alone men.
Uterus transplants are “still highly experimental,” said Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics and head of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University’s School of Medicine.
“This means that the procedure is still being studied for its safety and effectiveness in women, and it is performed only as part of experimental trials.
“Because of the additional research needed to understand the risks of the procedure and its effect on the fetus, performing a uterus transplant on a man right now would not be responsible, he said.
“Surgically, could you put [a uterus] in a man tomorrow? Yeah, but it would be completely irresponsible,” Caplan told Live Science.
Dr. Saima Aftab, medical director of the Fetal Care Center at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, agreed that the fertility treatment field has not yet reached the point where this procedure could be done in men.
“Even for women, there’s still a reason for caution” as researchers collect more information about the safety procedure, Aftab said. “[We’re] still far away from understanding enough to be able to do this safely in men,” she said.
