Guidelines clear way for gene-screen babies

By ELIZABETH BINNING

New Zealand parents will soon be able to have babies free of serious genetic disorders and babies whose tissue can be used to help ill siblings.

But they will not be able to choose the sex of their unborn child.

Ethical guidelines issued yesterday for public consultation allow use of a controversial test which checks an embryo for serious genetic conditions before it is implanted into a woman's uterus.

"Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis" (PGD) is used with in vitro fertilisation and will help couples who carry disorders such as Huntington's disease and haemophilia to have healthy babies.

It will also enable couples with a sick child to have a baby with healthy tissues that can be used to save the sibling's life.

PGD will also improve the chance of a successful pregnancy in older women - who are at higher risk of miscarriage - by checking the condition of an embryo before it is implanted.

The highly controversial technology was approved by Health Minister Annette King last year on the condition draft guidelines were created to tackle ethical issues such as sex selection.

The guidelines, formulated by the National Ethics Committee on Assisted Human Reproduction, now make it clear that "designer babies" will not be allowed.

Parents will not be able to choose the sex or physical attributes of their baby, to the relief of many groups.

Fertility Associates director Dr Richard Fisher said banning the creation of "designer babies" should help ease most people's fear of the technology, which has been available overseas for up to 14 years.

He said couples who wanted to choose the sex of their child could travel to places such as Australia, where it is legal.

Organisation for Rare Disorders executive director John Forman said PGD promised to be one of the greatest steps forward in controlling severe, debilitating or fatal diseases.

The number of babies who died from genetic and congenital conditions between birth and 12 months was nearly the same as those who died from cot death, he said.

PGD would not prevent all those genetic-related deaths but it would go a long way towards reducing them.

A Dunedin couple, who want to be known only as Kelli and Parviz, said the guidelines took them one step closer to being able to have a much wanted child.

Kelli terminated a pregnancy two years ago after learning her baby had severe haemophilia Type A, which affects the joints and causes internal bleeding.

"I had seen my father, who has since passed on, suffer with severe haemophilia and I'm not prepared to bring a child into the world who is going to suffer a lifetime of pain," she said.

"We have been holding off until PGD became available in New Zealand."

Submissions on the proposed guidelines will assist in forming the final draft, which will be submitted to the minister early next year for approval.

About 1000 babies have been born worldwide using PGD. Hundreds of them would have inherited their parent's genetic disorder had they been conceived naturally.