Preimplantation HLA typing: having children to save our loved ones.
Preimplantation tissue typing has been proposed as a method for creating a tissue matched child that can serve as a haematopoietic stem cell donor to save its sick sibling in need of a stem cell transplant. Despite recent promising results, many people have expressed their disapproval of this method. This paper addresses the main concerns of these critics: the risk of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for the child to be born; the intention to have a donor child; the limits that should be placed on what may be done to the donor child, and whether the intended recipient can be someone other than a sibling. The author will show that these concerns do not constitute a sufficient ground to forbid people to use this technique to save not only a sibling, but also any other loved one's life. Finally, the author briefly deals with two alternative scenarios: the creation of a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched child as an insurance policy, and the banking of HLA matched embryos.
Devolder
K
K
Ghent University, Centre for Environmental Philosophy and Bioethics, Blandijnberg 2, B-9000 Gent, Belgium. katrien.devolder@Ugent.be
D046148:Donor Selection / Q000941:ethics*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000941:ethics*; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D011247:Pregnancy; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis / Q000941:ethics; D012307:Risk Factors; D014015:Tissue Banks / Q000941:ethics; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods
D006680:HLA Antigens