My Son and I Shared a Womb

We acknowledged the traditional custodians of the land we're recording on today.

I started asking for my mom and my husband and they said no, this is a life saving hysterectomy, and I said okay, and that's when they said, we'll put you to sleep now. So then I went to sleep and woke up in the ICU forty eight hours later.

Hello, and welcome back to Eat Sleep, Shit, Repeat, your unhinged podcast all about the madness that is motherhood and everything in between.

I'm Kyri Souls, I'm Kelly McCarron and in case you missed last week's episode, we talked toddlers and bullying, what happens when you've got the bad kid and should we be worried?

Yes, and thank you so much to the shitters for sharing their experiences and our dms. It made us have a we chuckle and feel a lot. Seen on the show. Today, we're talking to a lovely shitter, Kirsty, who was Australia's first uterus transplant recipient. Her mum, Michelle, was her donor. It's a fascinating story and one that we are so so excited to share far and wide. Modern medicine is kind of amazing, and we also get into the emotional side of doing something so groundbreaking.

Honestly, I'm so excited for this to be going live because everyone I've told about this conversation afterwards was like what yeah, yeah, I spent my whole summer holidays being.

Like we are interviewing Kirsty the first and they were like.

Wow, yeah.

A little reminder, because we have pre recorded this before the bearbit arrives, we aren't doing Pecan Pit as we thought they could age quite badly, but don't worry. It will be back as soon as we're back to our regular recording schedule.

That's right, let's get into it. So we first heard from Kirsty after Cal asked you the shit is for your amazing stories, and well this one truly takes the cake. So Kirsty responded saying, Hi, ladies, love the pod. My name is Kirsty and I was Australia's first uterus transplant recipient. My mum, Michelle was my donor. The transplant surgery was successful and I was able to carry another child. That child is my son, Hena, who turned one in December.

Hi, ladies.

I live on the mid north coast of New South Wales. I live with my husband Nicholas and our two children, my daughter who's three and a half, Violet, and my son Henry, and he is one.

So talk us through your journey of deciding to have kids and what your fertility journey looked like.

My husband and I we got engaged, we got married, than that little thing COVID sort of ruined our plans of going on a honeymoon, and we had a chat and sort of said, well, if we're not going on holidays, we always want children.

But we hadn't, you know, actively tried.

So I said, oh, look it could take you know, six or twelve months, we should just start trying for a baby. And that next month I did a pregnancy test and we were pregnant. I lost that pregnancy early on and went back to my GP, and he said, you know, have a natural period and then when you're ready, you can try again. So I had a period, and then that next month we tried again. We fell pregnant with Violet. I was referred to the MGP program, which is the Midway Free group practice. So I had some

So she was very lost. She had no idea what she was doing.

The poor thing so that also stopped the doctors being able to use sort of any interventions I.

Force its or suction.

So then I went in for an emergency cesarean. Violet was born a little after one o'clock in the morning, and she was happy and healthy and crying, and I got to give her a little kiss, and then my midwife and my husband went down to the birthing floor maternity and it was whilst I was still in the bed the surgery plank that I had a postpartum hemorrhage and I lost eleven liters of blood, so that was my body's volumed twice over and they had to perform a life saving hystery to me.

Basically, oh wow, were you awake? Yeah.

So the first thing I realized that alerted everyone to the issue was I was getting pain in my back, which obviously I'd had an epidural, I shouldn't be able to feel pain. And then I started vomiting ferociously, and basically because I was losing my blood, I became hypoxic, so I didn't have enough oxygen traveling around my body.

But yes, I was awake.

And then basically, once it was an emergency sort of everyone started coming back in and they were getting more teams of people and basically they lowered the curtain and just said, no, we need to do a hysterect to me. And I said no, and I started asking for my mum and my husband and they said no, this is a life saving hysterect to me, and I said okay. And that's when because the anethetist, you know how they sort of stayed behind your head and yeah, sort of looking over.

The top of you. They said, we'll put you to sleep now.

So yeah, then I went to sleep and woke up in the ICU forty eight hours later.

Did you go to sleep thinking, oh my god, I'm going to die like that is horrifying.

I went to sleep thinking, goodness, me put me to sleep. I can't yea, yeah, listen to this anymore. And honestly, I knew it was really bad, but there was just something innately in me that I knew I was fighting and I just wanted to meet my baby.

So yeah, the second I.

Woke up, the nurse came in and she's like, oh, go get your husband. And I was in the ICU, so they were on maternity, so they brought Violet in with the little bassinett on wheels, and because I'd lost so much blood, I was a little bit woozy, And because I was with the MGP and I was really clear with my birth plan that I wanted to breastfeed, the midwives had actually been milking my breasts and feeding Violet the colostrum.

The midwives are the best people.

They're phenomenal.

I know, they're just above and beyond obviously trying to one create that connection with me, but also yet trying to feel that wish of mine of wanting to be able to breastfeed. And Yeah, to be honest, when I woke up, I knew what had happened. I remembered everything that had happened. I remembered that they told me that I was going to have a hysterectomy. In my head, I assumed that they only took my uterus. That was confirmed by doctors and nurses pretty much straight away. Yes,

So if you've lost your uterus but kept everything else, you won't go through menopause correct, correct, very crept.

Yeah, And in my head, I wasn't even thinking about menopause. I was thinking oh.

My god, with my brain, I'm like, not menopause. That's awful. You've got a new one end of going through menopause.

Well, that obviously is something you would have to think about. But to me immediately, while it was my first baby, I knew I wanted to have a gaggle of children, like I wanted to have more children. So as soon as I heard that I had my ovaries, I was like, okay, ding, ding, I can have more biological children. So pretty much, once we got back down to maternity and I got out of ICU, they started talking to me about sarrogacy. Like the midwife started saying, when you're ready, we can talk

So they were very open and honest.

It was maybe a little bit too soon, but I appreciate it because again they knew my wishes. I had made it very clear that I wanted to have more children. So yeah, I mean I appreciated the conversations.

When they were talking to you, Did they tell you why, like what had happened?

Yes?

And no, So yes, we knew that i'd had at this massive bleed. But they ended up doing like an RCA report, which is just like a report of everything that went wrong, and we were able to do a debrief with the hospital and that was probably when we got more idea of exactly what went down and what happened.

So you've woken up and ice you, they've taken you back down. You know, you're with your Harvey, with baby. You've taken all this information and you're really thankful for the life saving surgery. You've got your baby. But was there a period of mourning or did that come kind of like at a later stage, like what was your I guess your mental state.

Like behind closed door, I was a wreck, but I definitely can see now with hindsight, like my daughter was born in April twenty twenty one hindsight, I was definitely fawning. I definitely didn't want to be a pain. I didn't want to be a terrible patient. I think I just wanted.

I wanted just to be a normal mum.

But also, yeah, I definitely think I was fawning a little bit and a little bit later on, like there was just lots of appointments, lots of follow ups. I had to see GPS, and then I had to see I've got to call it. Like, there was just a lot of things happening. I definitely was a little bit worried that if I showed any weak not weakness, but this is just what I was thinking in my head.

I think that's such a normal reaction because you've just like you've had your baby taken away already, you know, like you had that degree of separation from her. Can I just ask you, though, what was the recovery like, just because I'm just thinking you've had a Caesar, but then you've also had a hysterectomy.

Correct, And I also had a stent placed in one of my urytors because when they did the hysterectomy, they caught my urrota in a suture, so I'd had a stent place, which meant that when I was six weeks postparted and they wanted me to have day surgery to have the stent removed. Oh wow, I mean Touchwood. I can laugh about it now. At Touchwood, everything was fine.

But everything was okay.

I've got a very my husband's very hands on obviously because I needed lots and lots of help, and I've got lots of family that lives very close by, so I have been really supported.

But I could pick Violet up. That was my limit.

So I was allowed to pick baby up, but basically I couldn't push the prem. I couldn't take the prem in and out of the car. So basically I did nothing for the first six weeks. I just stayed at home and stayed with Violet, and whilst my husband was home, we did go down to like the local.

Coffee shop and have a coffee.

But basically I just stayed in that baby bubble and I just stayed home where I felt really safe. Yeah, but I mean overall, now I've had lots of surgeries. My sea section, the first my sea section with the historic to me, it wasn't really that painful uncomfortable, definitely, yes, but by the time I have.

A reference to a lot more invasive.

Yeah. Yeah.

So, and I mean my sea section was a traditional sea section, so like hip to hip, whereas my uterus transplant was up and down, so it went from my belly.

Button to my pelvis.

And that was incredibly painful and incredibly hard because they cut through all of your muscle, so I had like no stomach muscles, whereas after my cesarean and my first systectomy, I felt weak. And I think, I mean, I assume you both remember that feeling of your tummy like contracting back after having like your baby growing in there. You have that really like jelly loose jelly sensation. So yeah, I had a little obviously that but that's very you know, normal postpartum jelly belly feeling.

But yeah, it was just a bit slow and yeah, that easy.

So then how long after because obviously you've talked about like lots of follow up, which of course it would be and then you've had to also have that day surgery. How long after Violet's birth did the opportunity to be in the uterus transplant clinical trial come up?

So Violet was six months old and she had gone down for a sleep, and I had been just furiously researching my options. Both my mum and my sister in law had pretty much straightaway offered to be surrogates if and when I wanted to have more children. But after my birthing experience, I think I was just really worried about putting people that I love in that situation. The thought of losing my mum or my sister in law, I just thought it was too big of a risk.

Good on her.

But so yeah, they both offered to be surrogates if and when we chose to have more children. But I just really really had this urge that I wanted to be pregnant again, even though I had no uterus, so I had nowhere to have that baby. I just thought to myself, like, we do heart transplants, we do lung transplants, Like why on Earth can't we do a uterus transplant?

Like why can't I have the organ that was removed replaced?

It was actually you that came up with the idea, is it them?

Well?

I jumped on the internet, as you do, and I was in a couple of Facebook groups, but nothing was proving fruitful. But I basically just found the website for the clinical trial. It looked old, it looked like it hadn't been updated. There wasn't any new information on there. And I just found an email address and that email address went to Yana Pittman. So doctor Jana Pittman. So I shot off an email. She replied pretty much straight away with the requirements to be accepted into the clinical trial.

So I got off the phone.

I rang my mum and I said, hey, Mom, like, hypothetically, if you could have a hysterectomy and I could have your uterus and have another baby, would you do it?

And she said where?

And I said Sydney, And she said, oh, okay, I'll talk to your dad, But yeah, that sounds fine, and I said, okay, bye, hung up from her.

And Mary, God, how old is your mum or was your mum at the time?

Fifty?

She's a young mum.

Yeah, my mom was in early twenties when she had me and was married and mum was yet. So my mum and I are really good friends, like we talk most mornings, and we were still talking about, you know, getting periods and stuff. So I knew Mom still got a period. I just needed to know if I could have her uterus.

She still got a period of fifty that also, that poor woman. Isn't part of the thing about getting older that you don't get your period anymore?

Well, she was perry, okay, but she was still getting a period, and that's all I really.

Well, sorry, Mom, I'm.

Talking about this is so transactional, but I mean it does really sound like I was just asking it out for lunch. But yes, I did ask her for an organ in like a two minute phone call while she was at work.

You guys would have been talking since that you had your hysterectomy, and she would have known, you know.

Yeah, she knew my desires and she's already offered up parrogacy, so correct, So you're just asking, okay, Mom, but we just you.

Know, you put it into me.

Also, I think with people you love, you kind of can be a little bit more open with people like I literally just dropped into conversation one day when I was talking to my girlfriend on the phone, which was about her fertility stuff that she's going through. I was like, oh, and just so you know, you don't have to be weird about it or anything, but I've got lots of eggs if you'd like any.

And she's kind of like, what, But I'm like, I don't know.

With friends, you kind of and people you love that our family, you just can kind of be like by the way, you know.

But Kelly you are.

I wouldn't say we're super similar, but we're direct and correct.

Yeah. Yeah, no time to fuck around.

There's no beating not with fertility. We do not have time to mic around.

Oh my god, exactly.

And especially because like you said, Mum and I had had been having these conversations, she knew how much I did want another child. I did want to have them in my mind close ish together. So to be a part of the clinical trial at the Royal women's You needed to bring a donor, so my mum was my donor. I'm the recipient. We obviously had to do lots of tests before we went to Sydney, but we did like blood tests, ultrasounds, like pretty i want to say, basic,

And I was like, oh my gosh.

And you know, I had to obviously have that conversation with Mum because in our head we thought it was going to happen in March, and that was obviously bringing the timeline forward. But Mum basically said, the sooner you have this uterus transplant, the sooner you can.

Have a baby. So yeah, let's let's do it.

And that's when I basically realized we were going to be the first in Australia.

So it was a clinical trial in Australia.

You guys were going to be the first, but it was it had been done successfully in other countries, correct.

So we follow the protocol we follow is from Sweden from doctor MATTX Branstrom. He is a Swedish gynocologist and he was in Australia in South Australia actually about fifteen years ago, and he was finishing some of his study here and he was working with women in oncology, so women that were losing their uteruses due to cancer treatment.

Oh wow.

So doctor Matt Branstrom actually came back to Australia and did my surgery. The doctors that the Royal filmed it so that they could then go on to use that as like a learning video.

That is like how incredible that you and your family are part of history history you are medical marvels and like history is going to be written on this and like science books and like it's so cool.

It's incredibly cool, especially because if the women in Sweden didn't put their hands up to be the first, then I wouldn't be in this position as well. So those women paved the way for me to be able to then have a clinical trial in Australia. So when people ask me, like you were the first, it's so risky. You know, they told you it might not work, and if it didn't work, then you know, you wouldn't have your mum's uterus to then have, you know, for syrucusy

What were the chances of it being successful? Like did they give you the odds?

Yeah?

They did, I don't really remember them now, but basically

So the day of the surgery, walk us through, how are you feeling, how was your mom feeling?

What was the process?

Yep, So we went to hospital the day prior, so we had some blood tests and some final things to do. We stayed in the hospital overnight and then we woke up that morning and Mom and I were staying in a room together.

So that was so lovely. Loved that our beds were like opposite.

Each other, so we could just smile at each other from like across our beds.

I would have been so comforting to be doing it together.

Oh my gosh, I couldn't have done it without my mom. I just couldn't. Like, I love my husband and I love my dad, and they're amazing men, but I couldn't have done this without my mom.

She sounds amazing.

She knew, yeah, how much I wanted to be a mum and how much I wanted to give Violet a sibling, and she made that sacrifice, and yeah, she had the hysterectomy. So the morning of we wake up, they wake us up at five point thirty. I was allowed to have a light breakfast. Mum wasn't allowed to have anything because

Had you heard anything about your mum before you went under?

Yes, So basically they came up and I can't remember if it was Yana that told us, but someone was basically like, they're flushing the uterus. Your mom's barely bled, like she's doing so wonderfully. Everything's looking great. We're really really happy with how the surgery's going. The surgeons are having a break and you're going to get put under general anesthetics. So they took me down, I went into the anesthetic. They had all the nurses there were all

Oh wow, that is just so incredible. I love that you're a detailed person because I want to know every single detail.

Well, so what they did, so a normal hystorict me is just they take your uterus basically, and it just depends, like sometimes they take the cervix, sometimes they take the filopian tubes.

Generally, they tried to.

Leave the ovaries to stop you from going into medical menopause. So it really just depends why you're having a hysterectomy. So with Mum, they left one ovary for her and they took the filopian tubes. They took her uterus and her cervix, so I actually had Mum's uterus en cervix.

Oh wow.

But they had to remove my cervix. So when I had my surgery, I just had the uterus removed. So when I had my uterus transplant, they removed my cervix as well.

But I mean it's a much in a muchness. It didn't matter.

And because your mum kept one of her ovaries. It meant that she wasn't going like, it wasn't speeding up her.

Correct so she was ari in perimenopause. So I'll go back to a tiny bit. I wake up in recovery. I look at Mum. She gives me a thumbs up, closes her eyes, and basically doctor Matt Branstrom and doctor Rebecca Dean's are at the end of my bed and they're just talking away and I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I'm so tired, Like, just tell me it worked. And doctor Dean's was like, oh, yes, you have a uterress it worked. And then I basically just closed my eyes. I was like, I am so tired. And by this

Together and I see my husband.

I give my husband a kiss, my dad gives Mom a kiss, and then we're like, yep, see in the morning. But yeah, it was successful. I stayed in hospital for seven days and then I was discharged, but Mum's stayed in hospital for ten days. Mom's bladder took a long time to wake up, so when they're doing a hystereipty, like everything's very compact down in your pelvest, and they did have to move around the bladder, so Mum's bladder

That she needed to wei right.

But literally twelve months, almost to the week, Mom started getting that sensation back, so she'd wake up in the morning and she said she'd just be like, oh, I need to use the bathroom, and then she actually didn't tell me for a couple of days, and then one

Oh, of course, the same reason why you didn't want them to be necessarily be your surrogate because of any risk. Yeah, the surgery is perfect, You're all good, and then it's like, but mum's just got this one thing, Like, yeah, that's going to affect kind of how you feel.

And obviously you want to be really feel really grateful because lucky me, like thirty two days post off, I got a period.

Oh my god.

So the uterus was doing its job.

It was credible.

Yeah, it said, hey, I'm a uterus, I need.

To wild your body just.

Like it was bad. Yeah, it wanted to be there.

And because you know, with all transplants there's risk of rejection, so what correct is it with a uterus and was there? You know, don't you have to take like anti rejection drugs and that sort of thing.

Oh, boy, yes you do.

I basically had like a pill planner the size of like an A four piece.

Oh my god, you were like an elderly person with your little web ball.

Definitely.

I had it was broken up four times a day, and I had multiple anti rejection drugs, steroids, painkillers, anti coagulants like blood clotting. I was pretty much on everything. But obviously in the early days you're on the really hard hitting stuff. But you know, they did slowly wean me off some of the harder anti rejection drugs so that I was able to do an embryo transfer.

So originally, when I.

Was talking to the doctors and we were talking about embryo transfer in Sweden, they were doing them six months post transplant. But luckily when I had my surgery, they had already moved to in Sweden doing them three months post period. So the surgery was January the eleventh, and then I got my period thirty one days later, and then three months after that we did an embryo transfer.

You just don't think that that is going to be the timeline, like.

It's so quick.

I was so quick.

Everything Touchwood had been going really well with my recovery, so I also was just very I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. Like, so we had to fly down for the embryo transfer, my husband and I, and he was sort of a bit guarded as well. He was like, your body's just been through so much.

Oh my god, first embryo.

Sorry, I feel like I've missed something. So how old were you at the time. I was thirty thirty, okay, And why were you doing the transfers and where did the embryos come from.

So before we were accepted into the clinical trial, even if we did sarrogacy, we would have to create embryos anyway, So we used my eggs and my husband's perm to create embryos. We did that at the Royal Women's with doctor Rebecca Dean's and basically she said, look, if you're not accepted into the clinical trial, you can transfer them somewhere else and you can use them with the surrogate. But if you are accepted into the clinical trial, you

Yeah, so everything goes swimmingly.

Yeah.

Do they have to do the embers or are you able to to try to conceive?

Oh? Naturally? Do you mean?

I don't know how to ask this, but you know, like the old fashion way, I wish I would have loved that because obviously all the medical stuff really takes the romance out.

I mean, when you're trying sometimes there really isn't that much romance.

No, do it the old fashion way anyway. But no, it wasn't connected.

There was no way my ovaries weren't connected to my uterus. Oh okay, okay, so there's no fallopian tubes connecting them to the uterus, so there was no way for that egg to get to where it needed to go.

Yeah, right, right, And then okay, so you've you've found out, but you've done a little bit of a naughty because you've been testing and you're not like no, So then how long before they called you back? Like you do?

A blood test on day fourteen.

And that confirmed it, like officially confirmed.

And then my doctor called me. My husband was at home. I planned for him because they had rang me and said, look, we need to make an appointment for doctor Deans to call you with the blood test results. I'd made my husband come home, and as soon as I got the good news, I think I like hurried her off the phone because I just wanted to call my mom. Yeah it was I basically shouted at Nick, I'm like, oh, your mom, because I wanted to tell them at the

Quick tell dad, ring dad. And I just wanted to share.

The news because everyone had been on the journey with us, and like, I was just so excited. And again, you're still waiting with baited breath everyone that's going through the fertility trenches, whether that's you know, secondary in fertility, like you realize sometimes that there's never a time you can really exhale. But no, I was like, Okay, we've got to this part, like the eggs where it needs to be it's implanted. The blood test is saying I'm pregnant,

And then what was the pregnancy like then, like you've you know, you're letting yourself kind of enjoy that moment of being pregnant. But I'm imagining like that in my experience with this pregnancy that I have. Now, after my first loss, I'd take nothing for granted, so one hundred percent.

So I mean I was being watched like a hawk.

I was really lucky that I had a team in Coughs and a team in Sydney, and once I got to twelve weeks, I basically saw the team in Sydney once a month, but then the alternate week I would see my Coughs team. So I had a gynecologist and a midwife in Coughs as well, and a midwife that ended up looking after me for Henry's so my second pregnancy, Henry was one of the midwives that looked after me

But yeah, it's just annuity, Okay, someone that knows your whole story and yeah, joining halfway through, yeah.

Yeah, and just again with your second, like you are really busy because you've got a first.

You know, some people are still working. I was still working three days a week and trying to travel to Sydney, and I was having blood tests as well for my levels for my ANI rejection drugs, like this is just all part and parcel of the clinical trial. So I was definitely trying to see the glimmers, like trying to find the silver linings to things like trying to and

How old. Was Violet through this?

She was too.

Okay, okay, And how does she sort of go with like, you know, obviously you were sort of traveling a lot and with the surgeries and that sort of thing. I mean, I guess she just didn't know any better, but like, how did you explain different things to a two year old?

So basically, just as much as age appropriate as we could. Yeah, we explained, like nanny gave mummy something because mummy couldn't have a baby, so you need to be careful of mummy's tummy. Like, and I've got a big scar, like I said, so from my bellydding down to my and we together.

So she's like, that's where the baby would come out of your head.

So and she points to the other scar and she's like that's where I came on at all, you know. So and basically she would come to my bod test appointments. We involved her a lot, so she was really used to like, yeah, mummy needs to go to the doctor. The doctor looks at mummy's belly, and my midwife would come to my home so she would use the doppler and let Violet hold the doppler and be like that's your brother's like your baby's heartbeat, and and Violet's great now.

All of these specialists and all of these flights and everything that all adds up. Sorry to talk about money, but like anyone playing along at home is going to be like this sounds like a very expensive process. So is anything covered by private health? Is much covered by Medicare Like.

No to private health.

Sorry, I do have hospital cover, so a tiny little bit, but basically the actual surgery because it was part of the clinical trial, I wasn't builed for. Okay, medications I cover, so all the IVF stuff or the anti rejection stuff. Most of my appointments in coughs because I was high risk, were built with Medicare, like the ultrasounds and things like that. There's also a really wonderful charity that works alongside the Royal Women's that could help me out sometimes when I

Yeah. Also, yeah it does add up.

But also doing any sort of fertility treatment is really expensive, so you sort of expect it, and I think when it's for another baby, you just I don't want to say, turn a blind eye, but you're like, it's worth it.

It is what it is.

And yeah, it's not money that you're going to regret spending, is it correct?

Yeah, And I mean touch wood again, I was having very good outcomes, so yeah, that's very different to someone.

That's you know, how defeating it would be when something is.

Five embryo transfers, ten embryo transfers, like I was very, very very lucky.

Yeah, and okay, so can we move on to Henry's birth. I want to hear about it, like but and also were you terrified because after Violet's birth you must have did you have to do like a lot of work preparing yourself mentally?

Yes, For a period of time whilst I was pregnant, I just was like too high basket, let's not think about it. But then it got to the point where Obviously, my specialists in Sydney, they both Doctor Shanned and Doctor Lines, were ready to talk about it and like, but that was really good for me.

I like information. I like being told.

I think that's also another reason I like to share my story about violence birth and the hysterectomy is because leading up to violence Bath, I felt like I had done so much preparation. I'd done hypno birthing. I had bought all the things, drank all the stuff done, all the walking done, all the stretching, like listen to all the podcasts in the world. I thought I knew everything that could happen. And then to wake up and have had a hysterect to me, I was like, no one told me about that.

Yeah, I didn't hear that one.

And obviously for some people they prefer less information, but yeah, for me, definitely, I like to be really informed. So when my team started talking to me about what the birth would be like, it was a plants arian. It has to be a plants arian at thirty seven weeks, just so not to put pressure on the uterus, because obviously we're trying to avoid uterine rupture and that can happen after transplants and they basically are like, you are not going past thirty seven weeks, but also people do

I was walking distance. Everyone was going over me with a fine tooth comb.

So being a part of the clinical trial, I also had access to appointments to look after my mental health as well, and they were checking in and just everyone really understood where I was coming from that I'd had a hysterectomy. And I also requested for my mum to

Yeah, it's so incredible and like you can tell him you and him grew in the same womb.

Yeah, Me, my brother and Henry all grew in the same womb.

That's so cool.

And it was just a beautiful experience. Like honestly, my mum and my husband and I walked to the hospital the morning of my plan ses arian, I wasn't allowed to coffee, but they were. I was a bit I wasn't very happy about that because I loved my first coffee of the morning.

But yeah, it was just so lovely, Like I walked in and everyone was so excited because they knew we were meeting my baby.

And I don't know if that's just the difference between an emergencies is arian.

Everyone I know that's had an elective the second time around has been like, why was it such a nice experience?

Like so it was.

It went really really well. I barely lost any well I had. I lost three or four leaders to me, I felt great, Like they was saying, you know, how are you feeling? You know, And I had no symptoms from the blood loss, but.

That's still a lot of blood to lose, Like I know, but I know it's not eleven.

But like did they say, why you bleed so much?

Like again, because they were checking everything out. Okay, so they opened me up and down because they wanted to and to just close all those layers. And because yeah it was instead of a cross ways instead of your bikini line. They did that one the same way they did the uterus transplant, so that one was up and down.

So that was that's a big area to be awake for as well, though like yeah, it's.

It's a lot of rummaging. But again in comparison, it was it's so gross. I was really.

Lucky because Yanna took my phone and she filmed him coming out. I've got this beautiful video of him like coming out of my tummy. I made the comment that I didn't get to see my placenta with Violet. She made it a thing of like taking a photo of Henry's placenta, And yeah, I was just so lucky, Like not only did I have my husband and my my mom, but I had like my amazing team with me and

Soon as we got into recovery.

Mum said to me that went really really well, and I said, yeah, yeah, it did. And she said, you want to have another baby, don't you.

Oh.

I was like, yes, yes, I do.

It chills because that was going to be my next question. It's like, how could you not want to do it all over again when it was such a beautiful experience.

Well, I actually am three months post second history to me, So when you're part of the clinical trial, they say to you two live birds or five years. That's the limit on how long you can have the uterus, right, because obviously they want to get you off the anti rejection drug, so I can't just keep the uterus like I would have loved to have just kept it.

But those anti rejection drugs suck, so obviously I wanted to get off those.

But basically part of that planning for the land cesarian of Henry, they said, do you want to have a hysterectomy?

At that stage, you'll stay awake, we'll do the cesarean.

Basically Henry will be born and then we would knock you out and do the hysterectomy. But I was still very unsure because I've already got another child.

As well.

If you had asked Kirsty whilst I was pregnant with Violet how many kids I wanted, I always said three. My husband's got a brother and a sister. It's just my brother and I and were thick as thieves. But I always begged my mum for a sister. And I don't know, I just always grew up thinking I would have three kids. So, you know, before the uterus transplant, I was like, if I get the chance, I will have two more children, and Violet will have two more siblings.

So months post his diectomy. Now, yeah, and how are you feeling great?

I feel, my God that I'm so good.

I'm weaning off mine.

You've got all the drugs out of your system.

Not quite, so I'm still weaning. You've got to do that slowly because obviously I had so many my Siah, I'm weaning off the steroids really slowly. But Touchwood, in the new year, I will be drug free. I will be anti rejection, drug free.

That's incredible, and you've got your two beautiful babies and you've made history.

Yeah, and hopefully so as far as I know, there's been three other uterus transplants. Now I only know the lady that went second. So the lady that went second, she has a baby girl named Rose. So there's been one baby boy and one baby girl born in Australia from uterus transplant.

It's really cool and I'm just isn't science amazing? It's amazing.

And women's bodies of.

Course, I mean, yeah, it goes without saying powerhouse, it does.

Here we are.

But I just love that perspective that you had and that you could say goodbye to that second uterus and just be like, no, we've done our dash. This is what we need, like our families complete.

Yeah, and look, I don't know if I can definitely definitely say yes, our family is complete, but this part of our our family making journey, this part is closed.

My body. I've been through a lot and I've had enough.

You know, in the future, you know, we may look at something else, but at the moment, we are content. And I am just so grateful for the opportunity from the Royal Women's and from all the people that all the doctors and nurses that looked after us and looked after my mum and looked after Henry. I'm just really looking forward to touchwood. Hopefully are really cruisy twenty twenty five, not too many hospital visits, not too many doctors' visits, you know, just really getting to enjoy my children.

Yeah, definitely. It's been a long journey because you've had to do it pretty quickly, one after the other, and it hasn't been easy. It's kind of nice just to enjoy, like.

Yeah, and I hate that word. I hate the word journey, but it has felt like a journey. And you know, there's been so many milestones. But as a parent, you guys probably say the same thing. You're like, next week it'll get better. Yes, we could all get better, but it's like, hopefully next year will be our year and we can just like slow down.

We've got to have the belief at the beginning of the year that it's going to be get yeah, aimheigh, Yeah exactly. And so what's it like, I mean, he's just turned one, Like looking at him, seeing him reaches milestones, just seeing him as a little person, like does it just amaze.

You that definitely.

And he's just so different to my daughter. So he's got so many teeth, he's got like eight teeth. He's walking. He started taking steps like two weeks ago and then just started basically walking around the house and I was like, oh my goodness. And then so, yeah, he's just I used to think, oh, you raise them in the same house, they'll be similar. But my children are chalk and Cheese is a soft and my son is just a wild animal. I love that, which I love, I love, but I just didn't like as a baby.

He was a very easy baby. So I kept saying to everyone, Oh, he's going to be like my husband.

My husband's a surfar he's very easy going. My husband's very you know, very cruisy. Henry is going to be just like his dad. And then my daughter's always like.

Mom, he's so rough. He's so rough with me.

And I'm like, Violet, just you put your hand out and you say no, Hongry, I don't like it, yes, gentle hands. But yeah, he's he's just such a boy.

I feel like he had to have that kind of demeanor because he just really really wanted.

To be here.

You know he really wanted to be here, so he's living life to the fullest. He's rough and humble. I love it. Final question, what's surprised you the most? What did you learn about yourself?

I think there's there's been lots of challenges along the way, but I'm just really, really, really proud of myself that I've been able to get up every day and be grateful.

And it's not easy.

The drugs make you feel crap, and when you've got a kid and you're pregnant, and because I was obviously well key, you would totally understand, but yeah, still on a pregnancy, but any pregnancy, some people look get nice and easy and you know, but it's hard. So I'm just really proud that I tried to see the positive and I just kept turning up and doing what I could do.

And you know, I had to ask for help.

Like obviously to get to this stage, I did have to ask my mum for her uterus, so you know, I did have to ask for things. So I think I'm just getting to the point where I'm getting more comfortable within asking for what I need and for asking for help and then also accepting that help because yeah, it's really hard sometimes as a mum when you just want to do and be everywhere all the time. To then accept that help as well.

It feels like that's almost your full circle kind of lesson, because remember when you were talking in the hospital about you were kind of fawning and trying to keep it all together, and you know, you were scared to kind of let anyone know that you were struggling to now like being like, I'm actually so proud of myself for asking for and accepting the help.

Yes, because yeah, a problem shared is definitely a problem halved. And I think you actually key you were only talking about this the other day. You were saying, once you started talking about how you were feeling, you felt a little better.

The weight lifts.

Yeah.

Yeah, I feel like it's only you. You feel supported, it doesn't feel as isolating. Yeah, definitely. Thanks obviously, Well was women here talking to white so wise? Well, thank you so much. That was just the most interesting, beautiful, entertaining, joyful conversation I think I've had in a long time. And I just thank you so a lot.

But the way it is a lot of infertility, Thank you, thank you.

I feel like a little bit flustered because I'm like, where is the presence of someone that has changed history?

Oh? Remember I was just the patient, but yes.

No, no, your body was used and you are a huge part of that.

I'm internally grateful for doctor Matt Branstrom, the Royal Women's the clinical trial, because yeah, I would never have been able to carry another child, and I'm so grateful that I did get to have that opportunity.

I hope everyone enjoyed listening to that chat as much as we enjoyed having it. She is just incredible and she's also just like a really good speaker.

She's very eloquent, such a good storyteller. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time during that nur. Yes, it was really good and.

She knew all the good we ask.

Yeah exactly. So thank you Kirsty so much for sharing your story.

And thank you for joining us today.

Make sure you share the pod on your socials, spread this incredible story far and wide, and please make sure you rate and review us. You can find us on Instagram at Key Reese and at Kelly Underscore McCarron, and at essi Dot Pod.

This episode was produced by us Key and kel with audio production by our lovely producer Madeline Joanna Bye Bye