The legal ruling that banned a UK couple from creating a tissue-matched baby to save the life of their sick son was overturned by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
The latest twist in the high-profile case means Raj and Shahana Hashmi can now attempt to create a sibling whose tissue is suitable for transplantation to their four-year-old son Zain
Zain suffers from the genetic blood disorder beta-thalassaemia. Currently his life is prolonged by 12-hour infusions of an iron treatment, five nights a week. However this is slowly poisoning Zain鈥檚 body. A bone marrow transplant would cure Zain, but no suitable donor has been found.
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The Hashmis had gained permission from the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to create a tissue-matched baby free of the disease and use stem cells from its umbilical cord to treat Zain.
This decision, made in February 2002, was challenged at the High Court in December 2002. The pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE) successfully argued that the HFEA had not been granted the authority by parliament to allow the procedure.
鈥淲e are absolutely thrilled with this decision,鈥� said Shahana Hashmi in a statement. 鈥淎t the centre of this case was our son, a little boy who suffers greatly. We are also delighted because this case opens the door to other families who are suffering.鈥�
鈥楲egitimate use鈥�
Suzi Leather, head of the HFEA, said the authority was pleased with the decision. 鈥淐learly clinicians cannot always prevent disease, but if they are able to and also save the life of a sibling, then this is a legitimate use of new techniques.鈥� The British Medical Association also welcomed the appeal verdict.
But CORE said in a statement: 鈥淭here are serious issues at stake here and from that perspective it is a defeat for society at large and certainly an overwhelming defeat for Parliamentary democracy.鈥�
The Hashmi鈥檚 lawyer said the verdict would allow treatment to commence without delay. But the couple face a 鈥渕assive uphill struggle鈥� to save their son, according to the IVF specialist who will carry out the tissue-typing procedure.
Simon Fishel, at the CARE Park Hospital in Nottingham, said at a pre-appeal briefing that the couple have only a 10 per cent chance of succeeding per attempt. And time is running out for Zain, he added.
Previous attempts
Firstly, the chance of finding an embryo not afflicted with or carrying beta-thalassaemia is as low as one in 12. Then, an appropriate tissue match has to be found among these embryos.
鈥淎dded on to that there is the normal efficiency of reproduction,鈥� he said. IVF is slightly more efficient than natural reproduction, but he notes that at 39, Shahana Hashmi is 鈥渁pproaching reproductive maturity鈥�, making success less likely.
At the briefing, Mrs Hashmi revealed that she had had two previous attempts before the High Court challenge. Twenty-four embryos were created in the first attempt but none were matches and some were carriers.
In the second attempt, 15 eggs were fertilised with two perfect matches. One stopped developing before it could be transplanted into Mrs Hashmi鈥檚 womb. The second did transplant but she failed to become pregnant.