The Hindu : International : Ban on `designer babies' to go

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 23, 2004

International

International

Ban on `designer babies' to go

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON: After a long and bitter controversy, the British medical authorities have decided to lift the ban on creating the so-called "designer babies'' to save seriously sick siblings in need of genetically-matched donors. Parents, who have children with potentially fatal genetic disorders, will now be able to seek fertility procedures to create "donor siblings''. Matching tissues from specially selected embryos can then be used to treat the sick sibling. The procedure, called "pre-implantation genetic diagnosis'', allows embryos to be screened for their tissue type before being implanted in the mother's womb, and until now this was allowed only for the specific purpose of weeding out genetic problems. The decision of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to lift the ban followed pressure from scientists and fertility experts who argued that it was affecting the lives of hundreds of children whose chances of survival were bleak if they did not find genetically-matched donors. What really clinched the issue was the case of a two-year-ld boy Joshua who suffers from a rare blood disorder and desperately needs genetic transplant. His parents, Joe and Julie Fletcher, were refused permission to opt for a "donor sibling'', provoking a nationwide debate on the ethics of the ban. Explaining the rationale behind relaxing the rules, Suzi Leather, chairperson of the HFEA, said: "Faced with potential requests from parents who want to save a sick child, the emotional focus is on the child who is ill ... Our review of the evidence available does not indicate that the embryo biopsy procedure disadvantages resulting babies compared to other IVF babies.'' But anti-abortion campaigners attacked the decision, calling it `unethical' and taken "without consultation''.

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