A team of doctors in New York say they are planning to perform the first womb transplant in the US.

The procedure would potentially allow women who have had their wombs damaged or removed to develop a pregnancy and give birth. The plan is use a womb from a woman who has died. A womb transplant has been tried once before, in Saudi Arabia in 2000, but then the womb came from a live donor, and was rejected after three months.

If the New York team are successful, it could bring new hope of becoming a mother to millions of women worldwide, many of whom have had their wombs removed due to illnesses such as cancer.

The New York surgeons have been running trials over the last six months which they say have confirmed that it is possible to remove the wombs of deceased donors in the same way as hearts, kidneys and livers are taken for transplant. The next step would be to place a donated uterus into a recipient through an incision below the navel.

The recipient’s own frozen embryo would be transferred into the transplanted womb allowing the pregnancy to develop. After birth by Caesarean section the uterus would be removed to minimise the risk of tissue rejection.