Posted on 03/11/2003 7:17:34 AM PST by dead
A couple has been given the go-ahead to use IVF to conceive a genetically screened "designer" baby in a desperate bid to cure their terminally ill child.
It is thought to be the first time in Australia that approval has been granted to use IVF in combination with genetic screening and tissue matching to create a "donor" child for a sick sibling.
The child, whose condition is unknown, is believed to suffer from a terminal illness, with survival dependent on a transfusion of umbilical cord blood from a perfectly matched sibling.
The technique involves embryos, created using IVF, being screened to ensure they are disease free, followed by more testing to ensure the embryo and child's tissue are compatible. If the embryo meets both tests it is implanted in the mother.
A fertility clinic, Monash IVF, which originally made applications to Melbourne's Epworth Hospital on behalf of two couples to perform the procedure, said last night it had not been advised of the decision by the hospital's ethics committee. The two applicants received interim approval from Victoria's Infertility Treatment Authority last April, dependent upon final approval from a hospital ethics committee.
Now approval has been given. One case concerned a four-year-old child with the rare Fanconi's anaemia. The other child was believed to suffer from sickle cell anaemia - a potentially fatal blood condition.
Epworth is believed to have consulted widely before deciding, seeking expert opinion from at least three theologians, ethicists, and reproductive scientists, including Professor Alan Trounson.
Monash IVF's chief executive, Donna Howlett, said Monash had applied to three hospitals for permission to perform the testing and fertility treatment.
Concerns included that pre-implantation genetic diagnosis - as it is known - may be used in the future to select for traits parents see as socially desirable, rather than those that compromise quality of life. But guidelines just finalised by the infertility authority impose strict conditions on its use.
"There will be no carte blanche given for this procedure," said the authority's head, Helen Szoke. "Each case must be considered individually, there is no generic ruling here."
Epworth Hospital would not comment because of privacy concerns for the family involved.
The medical director of Monash IVF, Gab Kovacs, said many people were more comfortable destroying three-day-old embryos carrying a fatal genetic abnormality than they were terminating a pregnancy.
"Genetic testing is available in utero and people have also for some time had a go at conceiving a baby naturally to try and save the life of another child," Professor Kovacs said. "What's new here is that we are combining the IVF technology with the tissue and genetic-testing technology."
The medical director of Monash IVF, Gab Kovacs, said many people were more comfortable destroying three-day-old embryos carrying a fatal genetic abnormality than they were terminating a pregnancy.
Or killing them if they’re perfectly healthy, but not genetically compatible with the sick child?
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