UK court OKs 'designer babies'
2005-04-28 16:42
London - The Law Lords, the five-judge panel that acts as Britain's supreme court, ruled on Thursday that the creation of so-called "designer babies" to treat siblings with genetic disorders was lawful.
In a unanimous decision, the justices upheld an appeal court judgement in April 2003 which overturned a ban on the use of controversial fertility treatment to help save the life of a terminally-ill boy.
The boy's parents, Raj and Shahana Hashmi, did go ahead with the treatment to produce a sibling, hoping to have a baby with the same tissue type as their son in order to treat his rare blood disorder.
Their attempt failed tragically when Hashmi had a miscarriage.