Spanish baby engineered to save brother

You know bone marrow extracting isn't a walk in the park for an adult let alone a child. Go drill a hole in your child's bones, watch them cry and tell them it's OK because it's for their brother.

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This post is truly expanding into other areas!!!! Such as when life begins! Just because pregnancy occurs, in my opinion, doesn't mean a life!!!!!!!!!!!! I will state it is solely my opinion, but life begins with a newborns first breath of air!!!!!!!!! Chidren are stillborn and miscarriaged all the time, so life should take affect once breathing on their own!!!!!! Know this post will t many off but think about it!!!!!!!!!!

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I find the whole thing to be unethical. I do not blame science, I blame unethical doctors and the parents. Mostly the doctors because they have two people desperate to attempt to save their child's life and thus willing to do anything, including breeding. Breeding is exactly what it was too, this article fails in it's attempt to sugar coat the facts, that the new child would have been aborted if he has also had the same genetic disorder. That is not a stand on abortion, it's just the facts.
How so many could possibly compare this story to cancer research is absurd, and it's comparing apples to oranges.

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Selfish, heartbreaking story...but selfish nonetheless.

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What I don't understand is what would have happened if the 2nd child had the same thing? Would they have kept trying to have as many children just to save the other ones? It was wrong for them to do this. Would the parent terminate the pregnancy if they knew the 2nd child carried the same gene? Even in IVF the egg is fertilized with the sperm and is a growing embryo would they have terminated the embryo? It is just wrong.

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everyone is born with a purpose. this child's purpose was just discovered earlier than most. there is nothing wrong with science giving a helping hand, as long as the scientists/doctors don't decide that they are God. all good inventions have been perverted. the telephone remains a great invention even though people have used it to eavesdrop on private conversations. atomic and nuclear energy have good uses, but man has perverted them into weapons of mass destruction. the internet is a wonderful tool for communication and education, but has been perverted by pornographers and identity thieves. It's the old saying: You have to take the bad with the good. All you can do is pray for more of the good and less of the bad.

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Hey Meangene69r,
Does that mean that partial birth abortion is okay? And if you don't know what it is, I seriously suggest researching it before you answer.
My opinion is this: Everyone keeps talking about some book called 'My Sister's Keeper' and using this work of fiction to support an argument which frankly is a completely grey area. Black and White need not apply.
Just because the CHARACTER in a STORY sued her parents for the rights to her body doesn't mean this little boy is going to grow up feeling less loved or used or whatever.
To me this whole issue is based on contingincies that we will never have any proof of; like whether the parents cherish thier second son as much as they do the first.
I mean people talk about these things in such strong words. THIS IS WROOOONGG! THIS IS RIIIIIIIGHTT! It's ridiculous. No one knows what they would do in any given situation until they're in it. I have two daughters and I have no idea what I would do to save one of thier lives. I hope, if I were faced with the circumstances this Spanish couple are dealing with, that I would have enough presence of mind to realize that there are definitely going to be drawbacks. That there are always unforseen consequences. Will the second son resent being painfully drilled into for bone marrow? Maybe. Will the parents subconsiously favor the first son? Maybe. And surely there are many other factors that my unimaginative mind can't concieve.
My whole point is that just like abortion, whether it is right or wrong, what this couple is doing is something that they are going to deal with every day for the rest of their lives and that's why the CHOICE should be theirs.

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Do not diminish/invalidate my son's life by telling me that because he never took a breath he did not exist or is not a real person. I felt that baby boy (his name is Joel. the hospital asked us for a name for his death certificate) kicking and moving inside me throughout my second trimester. I felt something wrong when the movement stopped. My stillborn son is just as valid as anyone born alive. Only God knows the # of days of your life and never promised that every life would be long for this world.

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Several aspects are worth considering. First, would the parents not have been willing to raise and be responsible for the 2nd child if his matching did not occur? Second, would this child be in any way endangered by the transfer operation for his brother? As in each case the answer appears to be no, the only aspect to be concerned with is their own personal ethical and/or religious beliefs re. the method of conception, and any perception of the kid in the future of feeling second-best. These are problems the parents will have to prepare for and deal with. But as a fairly-adamant RC pro-Life person I see no inherent evil in it. May God bless the kids, parents and doctors.

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"If they were going to have another child eventually, what's wrong
with it?"

If they were waiting, it's most likely they were waiting for a
reason. And ten years is an awful long age gap for someone to be
waiting. Waiting until their child was away from home and going to
college to have another?

And people can't tell me just because I haven't had a child I don't
know the love. I'm helping to raise my nephew and he's as good as
mine. I just couldn't live with the guilt knowing that I brought a
child into this world just for his blood, not because I was wanting
him. How would I feel if I was that second child? Used. I would go
through the feelings that my parents didn't love me, they only wanted
something from me for someone they did love. At any rate I'm sure they
would end up loving their second child, just in a completely different
way.

Unfortunately, people aren't even asking what the sick child wants. I'm chronically sick and if someone had to be brought into the world for me to live, I wouldn't want that weight on my shoulders if there were only a chance I would be healthy again.

And as an "oops baby", I have NEVER felt unwanted. I was unexpected, if my parents didn't want me, they knew their choices.

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so heres what i think...

i have 2 kids...and i, as thier parent, would do absolutlely anything in the world to save their lives. (parental view)


HOLY COW!!! this planet is loaded with people. death is a good thing... keeps things in check. with birth rates sky-rocketing, and life expectancy increasing...eventually we'll all have to grow gills to fit. true evolutionary circle... hmmmm (scientific view)


this is not a good thing... we should not be birthing 'parts cars'. we are not God, and therfore, should just let nature run its course. (moral view)

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If you selfish people would have to think twice about having a second child in order to cure the first one, think of all the medical and doctor bills you'll have to pay and the great inconveniences you'll suffer on account of his illness. If you don't care for the sick child, I'll bet that realizing you'll be required to "suffer" too will get your attention.

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READ "BRAVE NEW WORLD" BY ALDOUS HUXLEY. NOW WE HAVE A NEW TERM FOR OUR LEXICON. IN ADDITION TO "LOVE CHILD" AND "CHANGE OF LIFE CHILD" WE CAN ADD "SPARE PARTS CHILD".

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This is absolutely sick! Feeling special because he's a hero? He didn't have much choice did he? He was used just like a lab rat! It sickens me that the Frankensteins are allowed to even be parents!

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This is for nikpooh76 I would have kept having kids until one matched

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I think that what some of you forget is one's upbringing. I was raised a Christian and I would do this if possible. I do have problems making a decision like that, but as some of you post, what about cancer cures and heart transplants, and so on. I think what most people forget is that it isn't the saving of the life that is important, it is why you want to live. Christians by definition live to be with God and although we put great value on life, we never put it above God. Some of us including me have had to deal with modern science and except some things are part of living. I for one had prostate cancer. I had surgery. Am I cured? we don't know. But science/modern medicine has at least temporarily saved my live. Was it's God's plan? I don't know, but I "believe" it was.

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At least the is one child who will grow up knowing they were wanted and loved from the moment they were conceived!

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I think it's just way too risky what if the second child was sick too, then you have two sick children to you have a third child...or even if the transplant didnt work who will they be angry at and how will the second child feel....what if for some reason they werent matches then you have a sick child and a healthy newborn...do you spend all of your time with the sick child while the newborn suffers....i mean its just such a huge risk...im happy things did turn out okay but i dont think i couldve done it.

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How fortunate we live in a day and age when banking of a baby's cord blood is a widely available option. Acknowledged, private banking is pricey (though there are discounts to be had, ex:
http://www.cord-blood-banking-coupon.com ), but this article is testament to the potential value research may present us over the coming years. Thankfully, public donation banks are also becoming more prevalent.

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