The first face transplant

This one takes some thinking. In Cleveland, it was announced today, doctors have performed the country’s first near total face transplant

Reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow replaced nearly all of the woman’s face – 80 percent – with that of a dead female donor in an operation a couple weeks ago.

The patient’s name and age were not released. The hospital plans a news conference Wednesday and would not give details until then.

My question if I get to ask it on Wednesday: Does the recipient look exactly like the donor? If so, isn’t that kind of strange for the donor family?

The Discovery Health Web site has a slideshow of some face transplants (partial, I presume). Some may consider these graphic.