Couple opt for designer baby to cure son of rare disease

BRITAIN’S first genetic “designer” baby has been born to a couple desperate to cure their young son, who has a rare form of anaemia.

Jamie Whitaker was delivered by Caesarean section on Monday after being genetically matched, while still an IVF embryo, to his four-year-old brother, Charlie. His parents travelled to the United States after British authorities refused to give Jayson and Michelle Whitaker permission for treatment.

Charlie can only be cured of the rare Diamond Blackfan anaemia by a stem cell transplant from a sibling with a perfect tissue match.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed that the parents had undergone treatment and that Jamie was born in Jessop Wing maternity unit.

Mr Whitaker, aged 33, from Derbyshire, said: “All we did was change the odds from a one-in-four chance of a tissue match to a 98% chance. There was no selection on the basis of colour of eyes or hair or sex.” Blood tests will show in a few days if Jamie is the perfect tissue match, “but at the moment we don’t want to think about the stem cell blood”, said Mr Whitaker, a business manager.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) defended its decision not to allow treatment: “We have to look at the benefit for the embryo, not just the sibling. Perhaps some day in the future our policy will change but, at the moment, we have to be quite strict in the way we issue licences, on a case-by-case basis, and looking at the scientific, medical, and moral issues before making any decision.