China stem cell surgery due for NZ woman today

Rotorua woman Willie Terpstra, who is in China waiting for a stem cell transplant, is scheduled to have the operation today.

Mrs Terpstra, 64, who has motor neurone disease, hopes the controversial surgery will allow her to speak again. It involves transplanting millions of stem cells from aborted fetuses into the brain.

A posting on her website said she would have the operation at 1pm New Zealand time.

Banned in most countries, the two-hour surgery is performed under local anaesthetic by US-trained Chinese surgeon Hongyun Huang.