The first woman in Alabama to receive a uterus transplant reacts to the state court’s IVF decision

Jeremy Jones
·2 min read

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Elizabeth Goldman’s journey has been a rough one to make her childhood dream of having a baby come true.

The Alabama Supreme Court’s decision to consider embryos children has impacted thousands of lives across the state including Goldman as she used in-vitro fertilization to give birth to her baby girl.

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Elizabeth Goldman, of Mobile, moved up to Birmingham in 2021 and underwent uterus transplant surgery in 2022 to make her dream of being a mother come true as she was born without a uterus.

“I had to have a uterus transplant to be able to do IVF, to be able to carry my own baby like huge steps,” Goldman explained.

Nearly five months ago, she gave birth to her first child, Zari, and her journey has been anything but easy.

After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children, several clinics throughout the state closed due to potential liability issues. Goldman said the court’s decision could hinder future mothers who may need in-vitro fertilization to start a family.

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“People go through IVF for so many different reasons,” Goldman said. “And that’s the hard part is like their decisions not just impacting me and my journey, but also like hundreds of other people trying to grow their family. And we are all at a standstill and all at a stop. And that’s where it just doesn’t feel fair, you know?”

Sharing her story is just the first step Goldman is taking to hopefully impact and educate the future decisions of lawmakers.

“I think that the lawmakers, the people that are making that are doing the rulings and everything, I think they just truly don’t understand what IVF entails,” she said. “And that’s the hard part for me.”

Both the Alabama House of Representatives and the Senate have passed identical bills of IVG in the state. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the bills Wednesday.

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