IVF Baby Will Save His Brother's Life

02.03.2011

THE parents of a toddler who is so ill that he needs monthly blood transfusions have turned to IVF treatment in an bid to have the baby that could save his life.

William Rhodes suffers from the rare condition Diamond Blackfan anaemia which means the two-year-old’s bone marrow cannot produce red blood cells.

As well as having to endure the transfusions every five weeks, the youngster urgently needs a bone marrow transplant.

His parents, Ben and Caroline Rhodes, are now hoping that stem cells from the umbilical cord of a new brother or sister could save his life as tissue from a sibling more than doubles the chance of success.

The couple, who live in the Holgate neighbourhood of York, are now in a race against time to have the IVF treatment while William is healthy, as his transfusions cause a dangerous iron overload in his body.

They also need to raise as much as £60,000 for the IVF treatment – and supportive family and friends have already started fund-raising.

Only 125 people in the UK and 700 worldwide suffer from the condition which William is being treated for.

His 32-year-old mother said: “We had always planned to have another child and this way we can help William at the same time. Hopefully it will save his life and give him a better quality of life.

“If he has a transplant, he should lead the same kind of life any healthy child does. This is our only way forward.”

The couple, who have been married for four years, said they vowed to have children after Mr Rhodes, 27, a former York City footballer, fell ill shortly after they tied the knot.

Mrs Rhodes said: “We were married in December 2006 and in May 2007 Ben had a kidney and pancreas transplant and spent three months recovering from that.

“We always said that when Ben was well we would start a family. I do not want people to think we are having another child just because William is poorly.

“He is a really happy little boy. Because he looks so healthy people take it for granted that he is going to be all right.

“But it’s what’s going on inside his body that is the worrying thing – he’s a very poorly child.”

She added that the couple are also in talks with the NHS in a bid to secure funding for the IVF treatment.

The prognosis is William may survive into his teenage years, but he will suffer severe health problems, or die, if he does not have the bone marrow transplant.

Mr Rhodes said: “When he was born, we nearly lost him as his organs basically shut down. They brought him round, but we had a difficult 10 days in the special care baby unit.

“We knew he was pale, but they rushed him straight into York. They couldn’t find anything wrong, so we went to Leeds.

“He had a test on his bone marrow, and they came up with Diamond Blackfan anaemia.”

William’s monthly transfusions replenish his red blood cells, although without the treatment he quickly becomes pale and lethargic.

He went on a course of steroids in the hope that the drugs would kick-start his body into producing red cells, but the attempts failed.

Doctors in Paris are working to identify the faulty gene which causes Diamond Blackfan anaemia.

However, the process is expected to take months to complete and the scientists have admitted that they cannot guarantee they will be successful.

But even if the medical experts fail, they will use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to screen embryos for a tissue match for William.

If they can pinpoint the faulty gene, they will also be able to screen for the genetic abnormality. It is thought to be unlikely the condition would be passed to the couple’s new baby.

Stem cells collected from the umbilical cord at the birth of the baby would then be used in William’s bone marrow transplant.

An unrelated donor has a 45 per cent success rate, while one from a sibling has a 95 per cent success rate.

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk