In a landmark medical breakthrough, a baby boy named Hugo Richard Norman Powell has been born in the United Kingdom after his mother received a womb transplanted from a deceased donor — the first successful birth of its kind in the country. Hugo arrived safely in December 2025 at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London, part of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, weighing around 6 lb 13 oz (3.1 kg).
The mother, Grace Bell, an IT programme manager in her 30s born with a rare condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, had long been told she could not carry a child. After undergoing a carefully coordinated transplant operation in June 2024 at The Churchill Hospital in Oxford — led by surgeons including Professor Richard Smith and Dr. Isabel Quiroga as part of the Womb Transplant UK programme — she was able to conceive through IVF and ultimately give birth by caesarean section.
Bell’s partner, Steve Powell, who works in finance, shared the emotional moment of meeting their son and described Hugo’s arrival as “nothing short of a miracle.” The couple chose Hugo’s middle name “Richard” in honour of Professor Smith, who led the transplant team.
The identity of the deceased donor has not been made public, but her family expressed profound pride that, even in their loss, their daughter’s organs helped save and improve multiple lives — including giving Bell the chance to become a mother. Five other organs from the donor were also donated to recipients in need.
Medical specialists say this achievement marks a major milestone in reproductive medicine in the UK, offering new hope to women without functional wombs and expanding understanding of womb transplantation beyond living donor procedures.