UK parents call for right to select donor siblings

Following the birth of Adam Nash in the US last week, several couples have approached UK fertility clinics to request embryo screening tests that would allow them to conceive babies that may save the lives of their older children. Jack and Lisa Nash used preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to ensure that blood from the umbilical cord of Adam would provide a suitable transplant for his sister Molly, who is affected by a rare blood disorder.

Four-year-old Simone Phillipson of Washington, Tyne and Wear has Fanconi's anaemia, the same life-threatening condition as Molly Nash. Her mother Ellen said that hearing about the birth of Adam was wonderful. '99.9 per cent of parents would do anything to save their children' she added. A spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said that no clinic had ever applied to the HFEA licence committee for permission to carry out such tests, and that public consultation and extensive debate were necessary.

Five UK fertility clinics - St Thomas's, Hammersmith and University College hospitals in London, Leeds Infirmary and Park Hospital in Nottingham - are currently licensed to use PGD, though not for non-medical conditions. Professor Joy Delhanty, of University College Hospital, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that she turned down a case similar to the Nash family's. Although sympathetic to the parent's dilemma, she was opposed to testing for tissue type for both technical and ethical reasons. But centre director Paul Serhal said he would like to apply to the HFEA for permission to try the procedure, but added 'I will have to convince my team first that this is the way ahead.' Simon Fishel, director of the Centre for Assisted Reproduction at the Park Hospital, also said he would have no qualms about using the procedure to help a British couple.