Background Uterine factor infertility (UFI) may affect 7 million women in the United States. Uterine transplantation (UTx) is an emerging treatment for UFI, particularly in countries where gestational surrogacy is unavailable, but it is unknown whether women in the U.S. may desire this option given the availability of alternative methods of conception. We report the initial recruitment results of the first trial of uterine transplantation in in the Northeast. Methods The UteriNe Transplantation for Uterine Factor InfertiLity (UNTIL) trial is a pilot study to determine the safety and efficacy of deceased donor UTx in women with UFI. The trial opened in November 2017 at a metropolitan academic medical center in the Northeast which performs 450 solid organ transplants annually and receives 400 new patient visits for UFI every year. The study duration is anticipated to be 3-10 years per participant and includes generation of embryos through IVF, UTx from deceased donors, embryo implantation, cesarean delivery, and ultimately transplant hysterectomy. Results At the time the study opened, the trial was announced by the local media and opened on clinicaltrials.gov. During the initial three weeks of study recruitment, twenty women contacted the center and filled out a web-based screening questionnaire. Approximately half of the women suffered from congenital absence of a uterus and half had a prior hysterectomy. Women ranged in age from 21 through 40 years. 25% of women fit the strict inclusion criteria and were advanced beyond the screening questionnaire to the initial stage of evaluation. One candidate withdrew interest in the trial as she was currently pursuing a gestational carrier. Conclusion Despite the status of uterine transplantation as a complex experimental therapy requiring serial surgical procedures, there is robust interest in UTx among women with UFI in a populous geographic area of the U.S. where alternatives for parenthood are readily accessible. UTx has the potential to expand the benefits of transplantation to a numerous patient population currently underserved by available alternative therapies.

CITATION INFORMATION: Porrett P., Latif N., Wang E., Sortor L., Levin S., Shaked A., Olthoff K., Coutifaris C., Driscoll D., O'Neill K. Demand for Uterine Transplantation in the United States: Initial Recruitment Results of a Trial of Uterine Transplantation in the Northeast U.S. Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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