HFEA relaxes policy on embryo screening for tissue typing 22/7/04. By the Public Health Genetics Unit The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has announced that they are relaxing their current rules regarding the screening of embryos for tissue typing.

The new rules would enable all couples to seek permission to choose an embryo with a tissue type that matches a seriously ill sibling, creating a so-called 'designer baby'.

This is a change in policy as the HFEA previously only allowed tissue typing to be conducted when there was a threat that the child to be born could also have the genetic disease suffered by the sibling. Tissue typing is an invasive procedure and possibly detrimental to the foetus. In order to protect the unborn child, the HFEA decided that if the child could not inherit the disease, then they should not be created simply to benefit their sibling.

Now the HFEA has relaxed this position and will allow all couples, regardless of whether the child they wish to create is at risk of the disease affecting the sibling, to request the procedure. Approval is not automatic; each case, as in the past, will be reviewed individually and must adhere to strict criteria.

For example, the clinical team must show that all other treatments available for the ill sibling have been tried.

More families may now benefit from the procedure. For example, the Fletcher family is currently seeking approval to try to have a tissue-matched child to help their son, Joshua, who suffers from Diamond Blackfan anaemia, a fatal blood disorder.

Proponents see this change in policy as a positive step for treating ill children. Dr Simon Fishel, Managing Director of the Centres for Assisted Reproduction, stated to the BBC, "Parents have the right to choose technology to help them overcome their extraordinarily painful circumstances".

On the other side, Professor Jack Scarisbrick, national chairman of the pro-life charity Life has stated, "It can never be right to manufacture human beings to repair other human beings". Others have concerns for the mental well being of the children born in order to treat their sibling.

While the HFEA has reviewed the current evidence and found that children created under these circumstances are not disadvantaged compared with other IVF children, some believe it is still to early to judge what the future psychological effects could be on the children.

In order to gather this information, families are encouraged to participate in counselling sessions and in any follow-up studies. Centres conducting these studies must report on the long-term medical and psychosocial follow up on the children born using these procedures.

Article courtesy of the Public Health Genetics Unit .