Court hears designer baby plea

Court hears designer baby plea

Zain Hashmi is seriously ill

Overturning a legal ban on creating "designer babies" to save a sick child would not create a "free-for-all", the Appeal Court has been told.

Three judges are being asked to decide if the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has the power to license embryo selection by tissue typing.

At the centre of the case is four-year-old Zain Hashmi who has the rare blood disorder Beta Thalassaemia Major.

His parents, Raj and Shahana, say he needs a bone marrow transplant.

The authority is not suggesting that there should be a free-for-all

David Pannick QC, for the HFEA

But no donor can be found, and his parents say only a new baby could provide a tissue match.

They want doctors to use IVF technology to screen embryos to find one who is a match for Zain.

In a special statement to the court, Shahana Hashmi said: "Zain is a little boy who suffers desperately. Any child brought into our home will be fiercely protected.

"We would like you to please consider our son who will die a terrible death if we are not granted permission to try and save him."

'Right to life'

The family's doctors say any delay in the treatment could prevent it working.

Mrs Hashmi is 38, so her fertility is declining, and the transplant is more effective the younger the child is when it is carried out.

Zain currently receives blood transfusions and 12-hour nightly drug injections to keep the levels of iron in his body low.

Some experts say people with the condition can live until they are in their 40's or 50's with that treatment combination, but a bone marrow transplant would improve Zain's quality of life.

The Hashmis say they are simply trying to help their son

David Pannick QC, on behalf of the HFEA, told the Appeal Court: "The authority is not suggesting that there should be a free-for-all. Far from it."

However, he accepted there may be other cases like the Hashmis' in the future.

Compatibility

The High Court ruled in December last year that the HFEA did not have the power to license the tissue typing technique under existing legislation.

It followed a challenge by Josephine Quintavalle, of the public interest group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core).

The HFEA is challenging the decision that it was acting unlawfully.

Mr Pannick told the appeal pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), where embryos are checked for serious genetic diseases, was permitted.

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"Tissue typing is an additional step whereby the same embryonic cells are simultaneously tested for their compatibility with a sibling who already suffers from a life-threatening disease," he said.

James Dingemans QC, acting for Mrs Quintavalle in the appeal hearing, told he court she had great sympathy for Mr and Mrs Hashmi and Zain.

But he added: "Nevertheless, she maintains her submissions and this is because it is submitted that tissue typing proposals cross fundamental lines and Parliament reserved to itself the power to make decisions in this controversial area."

The hearing was adjourned for the day. A decision expected by Easter.