BRITAIN: The mother of a terminally ill boy yesterday made an impassioned plea to three British judges to help save her child's life.
In a rare move at the Court of Appeal in London, Ms Shahana Hashmi, whose four-year-old son Zain suffers from a potentially fatal genetic blood disorder, was allowed to address the court personally.
Zain's plight is at the centre of a battle over a legal ban on parents being able to create a sibling in order to help save the life of sick children.
Ms Hashmi (39) and her husband Raj (40) from Leeds, who want to create a genetically selected baby to save Zain's life, say time is running out for them.
Lord Phillips, the Master of the Rolls, sitting with Lord Justice Schiemann and Lord Justice Mance, are being asked to rule in an appeal which could decide whether Zain lives or dies.
At the start of yesterday's proceedings Ms Hashmi requested, through one of the barristers in the case, an opportunity to speak to the judges, even though she is not directly a party to the appeal.
Lord Phillips, while pointing out that such a step was unusual, said Ms Hashmi could have an opportunity to address the court.
Ms Hashmi, sitting at the front of the modern courtroom, clutching her husband's hand, said: "Thank you very much for listening to me.
"I would just like to say about the human aspects. We have heard a lot of ethical, moral and legal wrangles here.
"Zain is a little boy who suffers desperately day in and day out and we have to watch him suffer.
"Any child who is brought into our home will be fiercely protected. We don't wish any harm to our children.
"We would like you to please consider when making a decision that our son will die a terrible, painful death if we are not given permission to save him." Ms Hashmi asked if she could show the judges photographs of her son. The photographs, showing Zain lying in a hospital bed, were handed to the judges. Ms Hashmi told them: "He is not just a name. He is a little boy with a character."
The hearing before the judges involves an appeal by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) challenging an earlier High Court ruling that it has no legal power to licence embryo selection by tissue typing.
In December Mr Justice Maurice Kay ruled in favour of pro-life campaigner Josephine Quintavalle, acting on behalf of Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core), who had argued that this type of screening would mark the beginning of "designer babies" and that it was for Parliament to decide such an important matter. - (PA)