부산대학교 도서관

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) among children has been the subject of ethical and medicolegal problems. The usually juvenile condition of the do nor has frequently been one of the sources of these problems. Five years ago, we performed a BMT from a minor, programmed donor which was conceived by the parents hoping to provide their daughter with a compatible donor. A chronic myeloid Phl + leukemia was diagnosed two years before in the recipient, Evelina, and the BMT from a matched family donor was the only possible cure at that time. There have been stormy reactions among mass-media and mostly among the catholic community. The last expressed doubts on programming a child to secure the health of another child, like an instrument. In our opinion, it is acceptable that parents program a child and know in advance whether he is compatible or not whereas it unethical to conceive a child to serve as a bone marrow donor and abort him if it is not compatible. There is no reason in considering a BMT from a “programmed” donor only as an utilitarian mean; rather after our experience we can assert that one life has been saved and another has begun for its own happiness. Furthermore the psychological evaluation of the recipient and of the donor as well as of the parents has found a fairly normal situation.