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Friday August 2, 2002
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COUPLE 'DEVASTATED' THEY CANNOT HAVE 'DESIGNER BABY' FOR SPARE PARTS
To select a perfect tissue match embryos would be destroyed in the process
OXFORD, England, August 2, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Oxford couple Jayson and Michelle Whitaker are "absolutely devastated" after being denied permission to help doctors create a baby using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to provide a perfect tissue match for their three-year-old son Charlie.
The boy has a rare blood disorder and needs bone marrow derived from stem cells from a sibling's umbilical cord. But no such sibling exists; a daughter born last year has only a 50% tissue match. If transplant is to be an option, reports say the Whitakers must have more children -- but that the chances of a naturally perfect match are only one in four.
Yesterday the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority ruled that embryos can be screened only if there is a risk that they carry a serious genetic disease. To select a perfect tissue match, an unknown number of embryos would be rejected in the process.
"I don't think they understand Charlie's disorder," said Mr. Whitaker. "I don't think anyone knows what he goes through until they see him." Their doctor, fertility expert Dr. Mohammed Taranissi, said regulators were wrong to block the procedure. "It is ridiculous," he said. "I don't understand why we should struggle like this."
See the BBC coverage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2165710.stm
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