UK Considered As First Ever Country To Legalize ‘Three-Person Babies’

The House of Lords has already approved the legalizing the operations involved in three-person babies which will make them to be the first country to welcome such procedure. The decision was announced on Tuesday with a 280 votes to 48 after a three-hour debate in the Britain's upper house of parliament.

Three-person babies' is said to be a modified version of the IVF wherein the defective mitochondria of a mother will be replaced by healthy mitochondria from another female donor. The healthy mitochondria will then be fused with the DNA of the parents.

The procedure, which is originally performed in New Castle aims to prevent genetic diseases from being transferred to the baby as early as its fetus stage, BBC said.

According to the news source, the UK government's next step is to set a decision that will legalize the medical procedure of the operation.

The Guardian cited some statements from medical experts who supported this law.

"Families who know what it is like to care for a child with a devastating disease are the people best placed to decide whether mitochondrial donation is the right option for them. Parliament is to be commended for a considered and compassionate decision to give these families that choice, with proper safeguards under the UK's internationally-admired regulatory system," Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust said in supporting this law.

Other experts present during the approval also said that the procedure is 'life-changing' and 'a step in the dark' among women and families who cannot conceive babies because of defective mitochondria.

Meanwhile, the law has alerted a lot of ethical concerns as to whether it might result in the idea of 'designer babies' aside from its original goal in correcting incurable genetic diseases that a baby might acquire from its parents, according to DW.

Some critics called the operation as 'crude' saying that the fusion of traits from three parents might pose a threat in the future with the emergence of new unforeseen traits.

Marcy Darnovsky, head of the campaign group The Center for Genetics and Society also pointed out the possibility of parents picking up traits that they want their babies to have.