SAVIOUR SIBLINGS
Claire Foster
© 2006
Mr
and Mrs Nash are carriers of Fanconi anaemia, a genetic disease. Their daughter Molly was born with the
disease and her life was in danger. Her
body could not make bone marrow, and the only thing that would save her was an
injection of some healthy blood cells from a compatible donor. None had been found.
Molly’s
brother Adam was born on 29th August, 2000. His parents had gone through in vitro fertilisation and had their
embryos tested for Fanconi’s anaemia through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
(see Designer Babies). The embryo that became Adam was free of the
disease, and so he was implanted in his mother’s womb. When he was born blood was taken from his
umbilical cord and given to his sister, who survived. Adam is a ‘saviour sibling’.
This
case happened in the United States but there are cases happening in the UK now.
The Issues
Was
Adam Nash born only to save his sister’s life?
His parents stress that they want him for himself as well. Mrs. Nash is quoted as saying, “We wanted
more children anyway and this was the best possible action for our family as a
whole. It was what would help Jack and
I and Molly the most. It didn’t hurt
him but it did help Molly”. This does
not really cancel out the way in which Adam has been used instrumentally since
even in respect of his being a wanted baby he is still a means to his parents’
end.
Putting the burden of instrumentality upon another human being can be asking for trouble. Even under normal circumstances, parents who have “really wanted” children have to let go of them, the sooner the better. Children do not belong to their parents and must be allowed the freedom to be themselves for their own sake. Consider the burden felt by children whose parents are ambitious for them, who so often feel they have let their parents down, or react against the demands laid upon them which they did not choose for themselves. Suppose Adam’s blood had not cured his sister? Would there have been a permanent sense of failure surrounding his parents’ love of him? Alternately, he or she may react to having been used in this way and turn against those who did it. Remember the adolescent cry “I didn’t ask to be born” and add to it the accusation “you only had me to save my sister’s life”.
What would happen if Molly needed further transplants later in her
life? Would Adam have to give
them? What if they became more
invasive, involving Adam in operations and visits to hospital? Where do you draw the line?
But Adam saved his
sister’s life. Without him she would
have died. And so far, only cord blood
has been taken.