A Penn Medicine nurse who donated her uterus helps another family’s dream come true
A Lancaster General Health nurse’s uterus donation transformed a woman’s dream of motherhood.
1 min. read
The rare gift of living uterus donation is a powerful way that women who have already given birth to their own children can help others who would otherwise be unable to do so. Sara Leister, a Lancaster General nurse, joined the growing list of living uterus donors who got to meet the recipients of their life-giving gift.
Emma Dolezal (left) and her infant daughter Emma met Sara Leister, who donated her uterus through Penn Medicine’s Uterus Transplant Program.
(Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine News)
In 2021, Leister learned of a groundbreaking trial Penn Medicine was conducting of a relatively new technique: uterus transplantation. A Penn Medicine news story shared the story of the first successful child born from a living donor uterus transplanted in the Uterus Transplant for Uterine Factor Infertility (UNTIL) trial. The story also said the trial was looking for women who had already given birth and who would consider donating their uterus.
Emma Dolezal, a 33-year-old from York County, Pennsylvania, was born without a uterus due to a condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser. She had once thought motherhood was impossible. Three failed surrogacy attempts and the looming plan for an egg donor had left her and her husband heartbroken. Then, a Facebook group post about Penn Medicine’s uterine transplant trial changed everything. Dolezal applied, was accepted, and underwent the procedure led by Kate O’Neill, program director of the Uterus Transplant Program. Leister’s donated uterus became Dolezal’s miracle, and through in vitro fertilization, a baby girl began to grow.
In July 2025, the two women met. Dolezal carried Olivia, the eighth child born through Penn Medicine’s uterine transplant program. “This is a beautiful moment,” said Dolezal. “I get to see a part of my miracle face-to-face.”
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