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PETBioNewsNewsAnother legal fight over UK saviour sibling?

BioNews

Another legal fight over UK saviour sibling?

Published 9 June 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 253

Author

BioNews

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.

A UK fertility doctor says he is prepared to launch a legal challenge on behalf of a couple who want to conceive a 'saviour sibling' for their ill son. Two-year old Joshua Fletcher has Diamond Blackfan anaemia, a rare condition that could be cured with a blood stem cell transplant...

A UK fertility doctor says he is prepared to launch a legal challenge on behalf of a couple who want to conceive a 'saviour sibling' for their ill son. Two-year old Joshua Fletcher has Diamond Blackfan anaemia, a rare condition that could be cured with a blood stem cell transplant from a tissue-matched donor. His parents, Joe and Julie Fletcher, want to use (PGD) (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) to conceive an IVF baby who would be able to provide Joshua with compatible umbilical cord blood. Mohammed Taranissi says he has applied to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for permission to carry out the treatment in Britain, and will challenge the authority in court if the application is unsuccessful.


Diamond Blackfan anaemia (DBA) is a rare, incurable blood disorder, caused by a failure of the bone marrow to make red blood cells. It affects an average of seven babies born every year in the UK. Some cases of Diamond Blackfan anaemia are caused by a mutation in a gene called RPS19, but for most, the trigger remains unknown. In 2002, The HFEA turned down a request from another family seeking to use PGD to conceive a tissue-matched baby to help a sibling with DBA. Michelle and Jayson Whitaker later travelled to Chicago to conceive their son James, whose umbilical cord blood will be used to help treat their affected son Charlie.


PGD involves carrying out a genetic test on embryos created using IVF techniques, usually to select those unaffected by a particular disease, which are then returned to the woman's womb. The HFEA refused the Whitakers permission to have the treatment in Britain because the cause of five-year-old Charlie's illness is unknown. This means the Whitakers could only use PGD to establish tissue type, and not to find out whether an embryo was disease-free. The authority has, however, allowed families with children affected by beta thalassaemia to have similar treatment, since a genetic test for this blood disorder is available. The Hashmi family are continuing with their attempts to conceive a baby which will be both free from beta thalassaemia, and which will be a tissue-match for their son Zain. However, they currently face a legal challenge to the HFEA's decision, by the pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE).


Joe Fletcher says that the HFEA's policy on so-called 'saviour siblings' is 'out of step', adding that 'they have the right to choose life or death for our son, simply by giving us the thumbs up or thumbs down'. Taranissi, of the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre in London, says that if his clinic's application to treat the Fletchers in the UK is unsuccessful, then he is 'fully prepared' to go through the courts to fight for permission. 'I think the time has come to challenge the HFEA and its thinking on this one', he told the Daily Mail. The Fletchers have apparently remortgaged their house, in case they need to raise the £30,000 necessary to travel to Chicago for treatment. A spokesperson for the HFEA said that could not comment on whether the Fletcher's application would be approved.

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Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
Comment
18 June 2009 • 3 minutes read

A plea from Shahana Hashmi

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After a long legal battle, Raj and Shahana Hashmi won the right to use genetic testing to select an embryo free from beta thalassaemia. The stem cells of their 'saviour sibling' could be used to treat their son Zain's illness. However, despite repeated attempts, Shahana has miscarried several times following...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
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18 June 2009 • 3 minutes read

Future looking brighter for 'saviour siblings'

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Today we report that the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has decided to allow Joe and Julie Fletcher to conceive a so-called 'saviour sibling' for their sick son, Joshua. Those that have followed this debate over the past few years will know that the Fletchers are not the...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
Comment
18 June 2009 • 3 minutes read

A baby to save our son

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A Baby to Save our Son' is a television documentary account of the creation of Britain's first so-called 'designer baby'. Because the Whitaker family allowed us complete access to their lives; for the first time, viewers will be able to see what really took place. Their motivation for allowing the...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
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18 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Time to review 'saviour siblings' law?

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A recent interview in the Times newspaper revealed that Suzi Leather, chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), thinks that the time has come for a change to the UK's embryology laws. The interview with Ms Leather referred to a number of procedures which might need to come...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Permission for another UK 'saviour sibling' granted

by Dr Jess Buxton

Another UK couple has received permission to try and conceive a 'saviour sibling' to provide cord blood stem cells to help treat their seriously ill child. Charlie and Catherine Mariethoz, from Leicester, have been granted a licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
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9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

'Saviour sibling' perfect genetic match for brother

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Three-week old Jodie Fletcher, the first 'saviour sibling' conceived in the UK, is a perfect genetic match for her three-year old brother, Joshua, who suffers from Diamond Blackfan anaemia (DBA), an incurable blood disorder. In September 2004, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) granted Joe and Julie Fletcher permission...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

'Saviour sibling' born to Fletcher family

by BioNews

A Belfast woman has given birth to the first 'saviour sibling' conceived in the UK: a baby girl who could help treat her seriously ill three-year-old brother. In September 2004, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) granted Joe and Julie Fletcher permission to have a tissue-matched baby to help...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

'Saviour sibling' is a perfect tissue match

by BioNews

This week sees more good news for Michelle and Jayson Whitaker, the British couple who were refused permission by the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to use embryo screening (PGD) to provide a bone marrow donor for their sick son. The Whitakers, who travelled to Chicago for the...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
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9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Whitaker case sparks calls for legal change

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James Whitaker's birth has provoked calls for fertility laws in the UK to be reformed. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 is now out of date due to advances in embryology and fertility treatments, say its critics, and it should be changed to allow the tissue typing procedure to...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
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9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Whitakers have their tissue matched baby

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A British couple have succeeded in their quest to have a tissue matched baby. Last summer, the Whitakers asked the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to allow them to use embryo screening (PGD) to provide a bone marrow donor for their sick son. After their request was refused...

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