The Useful Sibling

Fanconi Anemia is a genetic disorder which renders a person unable to produce bone marrow. Molly Nash was a girl who was born with this disorder, and without a bone marrow transplant from a sibling who didn't have the disorder and who was healthy, Molly was going to die after only eight or nine years of life. There was only one problem: Molly was an only child. So Molly's parents underwent a unique procedure in order to save their daughter. They produced fifteen embryos through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and had the embryos screened for this disorder using Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). After three failed IVF implantation cycles, Molly's mother, Lisa Nash, gave birth to a baby boy named Adam. Adam's umbilical cord supplied the needed stem cells that would be able to replace and replenish Molly's bone marrow. The bone marrow transplant took place in 2000, and as of 2010, both Molly, fifteen years old, and Adam, nine years old, are healthy children. At the core of this issue is the worry that the child produces from the procedures of IFV and PGD might be viewed as simply a product. Dr. Vivienne Nathanson has said, "We would have very serious concerns that [the baby] is a commodity rather than a person." In the situation of the Nash family, the best moral theory to abide by is Act Utilitarianism, which states that the right action is the one which produces the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure for the greatest number of people.

In dealing with the potential problem of children becoming medical commodities through PGD, there will be various ways in which people react. Some will take an alarmist point of view and demand that all PGD screening should be stopped because the resulting baby will only be a medical commodity. Others may say that PGD should be examined on a case-by-case basis and only be used when there is a legitimate cause. Still, others may take a more general stance that PGD should be used "for a number of serious genetic diseases on a named disorder basis", as James Yeandel of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, has stated. One final reaction that some may have is that the parents should be the ones deciding the future for their children, so they should be able to use or not use PGD as they see fit.

There are many different moral theories in play in these various scenarios, ranging both on the Consequentialist side of moral theory to the Nonconsequentialist side. Those who feel that PGD should be done away with entirely may feel that Natural Law is being violated or that the child is being treated as a means only, and not also as an end also as Kant discusses. One who takes the stance of examining PGD on a case-by-case basis subscribes to Act Utilitarianism which, as stated, declares the right action is the one which produces the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure for the greatest number of beings without reference to rules