Saviour siblings : an ethical appraisal

Abstract

Very often people buy parts of a car and use them as spare parts for their existing car. Although it is reasonable in that case, does it also apply to having a child as spare parts, in order to provide stem cells? How far would you go to save your child? Would you go as far as putting yourself at risk? Or, would you put someone else‟s life at risk? Imagine, having a three year old child, and life is simply perfect… only to suddenly discover that this beautiful child is suffering from leukaemia, or Fanconi anaemia, and the only chance of survival is a stem cell transplant- through the creation of a saviour sibling. In 1991, the birth of Adam Nash, the first IVF saviour sibling instigated a long list of ethical concerns. Saviour siblings are the result of Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue typing. This is done through the process of IVF, where embryos are tested and checked whether they are a tissue match to the sick sibling through HLA, and then the selected embryo is implanted. The good intention of creating a child in order to save another one should not be ignored; however, bringing children into this world based on their matching genetic make-up with the sick child may promote the idea that children are simply a commodity. This dissertation aims to appraise the ethical implications in the creation of saviour siblings and tries to identify the way forward.