St. Louis doctor transplants ovary

ST. LOUIS, April 21 (UPI) -- A St. Louis area doctor Wednesday transplanted an ovary from one woman into her sister in the first such procedure performed in the United States.

Dr. Sherman Silber, director of the Infertility Center of St. Louis at St. Luke's Hospital, transplanted an ovary from an Alabama woman into her infertile identical twin.

A spokeswoman for Silber said the operation ended at 5 p.m. local time and the patient was doing well.

Before the surgery began, Silber told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the procedure would be the first in the United States.

The sisters, both 24, share the same genetic makeup, with the possible exception of one or more genes controlling the start of menopause, Silber said.

Both twins entered puberty normally, but one began to go through menopause at age 13 while her sister stayed fertile.

Collaborators at the Paternity Testing Corp. in Columbia, Mo., and at the MIT Whitehead Institute in Boston, will examine the sisters' DNA for small differences that could be linked to reproduction. The analysis could lead to new insight on the genetic cause of menopause, Silber said.

In 1977 Silber transplanted a testicle from one twin into his brother. The formerly infertile brother now has four children.