The first US woman to receive a uterus transplant has thanked her donor for the chance to have her own child.
Lindsey, who did not give her last name, said she was 16 when doctors told her that she would never be able to get pregnant.
A decade later, she has become the first of 10 patients set to have trial uterus transplants at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
The 26-year-old, who has three adopted sons, will have regular medical check-ups for a year before trying to conceive through in-vitro fertilisation.
Lindsey will need to take anti-rejection drugs to suppress her immune system throughout her pregnancy and, after one or two pregnancies, doctors will take the uterus out so she can stop taking the drugs.
She told a news conference that, from the moment she was told she could not have children naturally, she had "prayed that God would allow me the opportunity to experience pregnancy and here we are today at the beginning of that journey".
Dr Tomasso Falcone, chair of the clinic's Women's Health Institute, described the feeling in the hospital room after the transplant was complete. "This is something we've wanted to do for a long time. The experience was euphoric for us."
Lindsey's transplant, which was done less the two weeks ago, is the first in the US but doctors in Sweden have performed nine transplants, resulting in five successful births so far.
Sweden uses uteruses from living donors, while those used by Cleveland Clinic's trial are from deceased donors.
Critics question whether the transplant is necessary, making the point that - while a liver transplant, for example, saves a life - a uterus transplant does not. There are also options such as adoption and surrogacy.
Cleveland Clinic surgeon Dr Rebecca Flyckt says: "We must remember a uterine transplant is not just about a surgery and about moving a uterus from here to there. It's about having a healthy baby.
"Women crave the experience of carrying their own pregnancies of feeling baby grow, kick and we know those women will get that experience through uterus transplantation."
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