Adam Nash was born in Colorado on August 29, 2000. He had been an embryo that was sorted, screened, and selected from at least 12 embryos from the Nash couple, Lisa and Jack, for the purpose of tissue matching for the Nashes' critically ill daughter, Molly.
Molly Nash was born to the Nash parents on July 4, 1994, with Fanconi's anemia, a fatal autosomal recessive bone marrow failure (aplastic anemia), which is only treatable with a bone marrow transplant from a sibling's umbilical cord blood. The success rate of a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor was only 42%, but from a sibling, the success rate increased to 85%.
The Nash couple, with support of physicians, made the decision to have preimplantation genetic testing on their embryos in the hopes of saving their only child. In the process, 12 of Lisa's eggs were fertilized by Jack's sperm via in vitro fertilization; 2 embryos had Fanconi's anemia and were discarded. Of the remaining 10 embryos, only one matched Molly's tissue. This one became Adam Nash.
From Grady, D. (2000, Oct. 4). Baby conceived to provide cell transplant for his dying sister. New York Times, p. 24. "The Case of Molly Nash," Denver Post, December 14, 2002
Cited Butts, J., Rich K. 2005. Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and into Practice. Jones and Bartlett Publisher: Massachussets., p. 82
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Do you still remember with the Sister Keeper, the movie? I've forgot the name of actresses and actors, but that movie told the story of a little girl, like Adam Nash, that have been made to safe the life of her sister.
We just try to answer many ethical question from kaleidoskop above, should humans be used as a means to an end? Were the Nashes justified in creating Adam for the purpose of using Adam to help Molly get well? What could have potentially happened to the nine remaining embryos? What is the meaning with "2 embryos had Falconi's anemia and were discarded"?
Do you believe that destroying a fetus or embryo is murder?
When these genetic issues are mentioned, emotions flare between people divided in their opinion. One side's view is how great society's future will be with the new developments. The other side's view is how science should not be interfering with nature or God's work. Not only do these genetic issues spark extreme emotions, they also are the most complex of all the ethical issues that people in society face today. The prospect of designing, altering, enhancing, or ending the life of fetuses or embryos is challenging.
To all genetic manipulation...is "whether we will shape it or be shaped by it".
*just 4 thinking*
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