What is the ethical dilemma facing doctors?
Doctors have no qualms about using umbilical cord blood from a baby in this way. However, it is the motives of the parents in creating a child expressly for this purpose that is troubling. Critics have likened the concept to producing a baby simply to harvest “spare parts”. There are concerns over whether the parents actually want another baby, and whether that baby would be valued the same as his or her brother. In this case, the umbilicus is obviously surplus to requirements, and no harm comes to the baby by its use, but ethical experts would be nervous about setting any ethical precedent about the use of specially-created body parts in this way. Why was there a court fight over this? The pro-life group CORE (Comment on Reproductive Ethics) are opposed to the treatment. After the HFEA gave permission for the treatment to go ahead, they took the case to the High Court, arguing that the HFEA had no powers to grant permission for the procedure. The High Court judge originally agreed wit
