Designer baby Jodie leaves hospital
By Nigel Gould
19 July 2005
She may be only four days old – but little Jodie Fletcher is already a history-maker. And this is the first picture of the babe-in-arms since leaving the Royal’s maternity unit in Belfast for her new home in Moira. Tiny Jodie is everything Julie and Joe Fletcher dreamed of – and more. But she is an extra-special little baby.
For Jodie, delivered by Caesarian section last Thursday, is the UK’s first designer baby.
She is a genetic match for her brother, Joshua (3), who suffers from the rare and incurable Diamond Blackfan Anaemia (DBA) which means his body does not make enough red blood cells. Because of this she offers him his best hope of long-term survival.
Jodie arrived home yesterday with her mum and dad.
After she was born stem cells were collected from umbilical cord blood.These are now in storage and will be used when doctors give the go-ahead for them to be transplanted into Joshua.
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“First we have to wait and see if Jodie has the same condition as Joshua. It should only be a few weeks before we know if she has anaemia or not.
The Fletchers have another son, Adam, but neither he nor his parents were the perfect match. Jodie is the first so-called “saviour sibling” of any kind to be conceived in the UK.
Read complete article via Belfast Telegraph here.
And related article “Born to save big brother’s life. Designer baby Jodie’s gift of hope” here.