Waiting as a frontier: (Un)making patients for uterus transplantation in Denmark
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Uterus transplantation (UTx) is an emerging frontier in reproductive medicine, that offers women born without a uterus the possibility of gestation through transplantation. While clinical programs are being established elsewhere, UTx remains unavailable in Denmark, where it has existed for nearly a decade as an anticipated yet inaccessible option. Based on in-depth interviews conducted between 2023 and 2025, this article explores experiences of waiting for UTx in Denmark. Drawing on interviews with ten women diagnosed with Mayer–Rokitansky–Küster–Hauser (MRKH) syndrome and eight medical professionals involved in contemplating its implementation, this article examines how UTx is lived and negotiated in the absence of clinical access. We conceptualize waiting as a frontier in its own right; a generative space where social, temporal, and emotional dimensions shape medical innovation and patienthood. By foregrounding waiting as a central feature of emerging medical technologies, the article demonstrates how biomedical futures are shaped not only in laboratories and policy arenas but also in intimate, uncertain, and emotionally charged spaces among those who wait. • UTx remains a not-yet-realized reproductive option for Danish women with MRKH syndrome • Women and clinicians take concrete actions despite current lack of UTx access • Anticipating future UTx entails uncertain, emotional and transformative work • Waiting is a frontier shaped by social, temporal, and emotional dimensions
Source: Social Science & Medicine
Institution: University of Copenhagen
Language: English
Subfield: Transplantation
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,800
OpenAlex ID: W7154579427