Couple plan designer baby to save sick child

By NICK SQUIRES in Sydney

In a desperate bid to save their terminally ill child, a Melbourne couple are to become the first in Australia to use IVF to conceive a genetically screened "designer baby".

Their existing child's only chance of survival is to receive a transfusion of umbilical cord blood from a perfectly matched brother or sister.

The controversial procedure involves creating embryos using IVF, screening them to ensure they are free of disease, then further testing to ensure the embryo's and the child's tissues are compatible. If those tests are successful, one embryo would be implanted in the mother.

Once the baby was born, the blood from its umbilical cord would be used. If that did not work, a bone-marrow transplant might be necessary.

The go-ahead for the procedure was given by Victoria's Infertility Treatment Authority last April, but depended on final approval from the ethics committee of Epworth Hospital in Melbourne, where the procedure will be carried out.

Two applications have been made to the Epworth to perform the procedure, and it was not clear yesterday which had been granted approval, due to confidentiality agreements.

One case involved a 4-year-old child with a rare blood disorder, while the other concerned a child suffering from sickle-cell anaemia, a potentially fatal blood condition.

Permission has now been given and involved the private hospital seeking expert opinion from doctors, theologians and ethicists.

The head of the ITA, Helen Szoke, insisted the case was unusual and strict controls would prevent other couples from using similar technology to create babies of a certain gender, or with particular physical characteristics.

"The technology is there - what's important is that it's used responsibly and that's our intent," she said.

"We have required, for example, that the condition of the existing child is fairly severe, [and] that other opportunities for treatment have been exhausted."