1. Conceiving a fetus for bone marrow donation: an ethical problem in prenatal diagnosis
- Author
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Gloria M. Petersen, M D Robin Dawn Clark, and John C. Fletcher
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Sex Determination Analysis ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Tissue and Organ Procurement ,Genetic Counseling ,Prenatal diagnosis ,Abortion ,California ,Fetus ,Directed Tissue Donation ,Parental autonomy ,Prenatal Diagnosis ,Humans ,Medicine ,Ethics, Medical ,Genetics (clinical) ,reproductive and urinary physiology ,Bone Marrow Transplantation ,Third party ,business.industry ,Obstetrics ,Siblings ,Health Policy ,Bone marrow donors ,Genetic Diseases, Inborn ,Obstetrics and Gynecology ,Infant ,Tissue Donors ,Surgery ,Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome ,Transplantation ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Aborted Fetus ,Personal Autonomy ,embryonic structures ,Female ,Pregnant Women ,Bone marrow ,business ,Bone Marrow Donation - Abstract
We present a family who sought prenatal diagnosis in order to bear a healthy child to serve as an HLA-identical bone marrow donor for their son affected with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome. They intended to abort HLA-incompatible fetuses who would have been unsuitable bone marrow donors. This case led us to conclude that prenatal diagnosis should not be used to benefit a third party or facilitate the conception or abortion of a fetus for the purpose of generating an organ for transplantation. The limits of parental autonomy and physician responsibility are discussed.
- Published
- 1990
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