US:Doctors in New York have begun considering potential recipients for the world's second attempt at a womb transplant.
Hundreds of women have inquired about the procedure at the Downtown hospital, and 40 to 50 are being screened.
The controversial process, estimated to cost more than $250,000 (€193,693), would enable women whose wombs have been removed or are defective to give birth to their own children, rather than rely on a surrogate mother.
In November, lead physician Giuseppe Del Priore said the hospital's ethics board had conditionally approved the plan, after a six-month trial run showed that the organs could be obtained from deceased donors. But a transplant is not expected "any time in the near future".
The wombs would be removed after the recipient gave birth, so she would not have to take immune-suppressing drugs to prevent organ rejection for the rest of her life.
The only uterus transplant attempted before, in Saudi Arabia in 2000, failed because of a blood clot. The womb came from a live donor and had to be removed three months later.
Gynaecologic surgeon Jeanetta Stega, who is working on the project with Dr Del Priore, believes transplanting more blood vessels and using better anti-clotting drugs would lessen this risk.
Some scientists involved believe they should produce more healthy offspring in animals before trying the procedure on women.
In a six-month experiment with the New York organ donor network, nine out of 150 families donating a loved one's organs agreed to donate the uterus when asked. Eight wombs were successfully removed.
The baby from a transplanted uterus would be delivered by Caesarean section. Dr Del Priore said he expected the cost of the transplant, which would include two weeks in hospital, would be shared by the hospital, charities that support infertility research, the patient, and insurers who cover the embryo creation part.
In September, London-based researchers said they believed they could carry out the world's first successful womb transplant within two years.