BRITAIN: In Britain the parents of a boy dying from a rare blood disorder won a court appeal yesterday which overturns a ban on their having a so-called "designer baby" to save the boy's life.
Senior judges rejected an earlier decision which banned the couple from using advanced screening techniques to select an embryo that would eventually provide tissue for their terminally-ill son.
Raj and Shahana Hashmi, from Leeds, said they were thrilled and would seek the potentially life-saving treatment for their son Zain (four), who has beta thalassaemia, a rare genetic disorder.
"This case has opened the doors to other families who are suffering," the couple said in a statement. "We are absolutely thrilled with this decision."
The Court of Appeal did not make public any reasons for its decision, which came after a long legal and ethical debate.
Zain cannot make red blood cells of his own and will die without a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. No suitable donor has been found, despite a worldwide search. Stem cells taken from the umbilical cord of any new baby the couple has could be used to try to help Zain, under an advanced treatment called tissue-typing.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the industry regulator, approved the technique, but its decision was overturned by the High Court in London last December following a challenge from a pro-life group.
Ms Josephine Quintavalle, founder of Comment On Reproductive Ethics (CORE), argued that embryo screening was "ethically objectionable" and that the authority had failed to consult enough.
After the Appeal Court ruling, CORE said: "It is a defeat for society at large and certainly an overwhelming defeat for parliamentary democracy."
The authority welcomed the ruling and defended its approval of IVF screening. "Clearly clinicians cannot always prevent diseases but if they are able to and also save the life of a sibling, then this is a legitimate use of these new techniques."
During the appeal Ms Hashmi made an impassioned plea to the judges in an attempt to help save her child's life.