Court Orders Lawyers for Children in Marrow Transplant Case

The state Supreme Court on Friday ordered the appointment of guardians to represent three children involved in a bitter bone marrow transplant case, enabling the children to have a say in the matter.

The court’s order sent the case back to Circuit Judge Monica Reynolds with orders to have attorneys present arguments on behalf of the 3-year-old twins and their dying, 12-year-old half brother.

The order followed appeal of Reynolds’ ruling that forcing twins James and Allison Curran to submit to blood tests would violate their right to privacy.

Tamas Bosze, who fathered the twins while he was separated from his second wife in the 1980s, filed suit to compel the youngsters to take the tests to determine if they are a match for his son, Jean-Pierre, who is dying of leukemia.

Their mother, Nancy Curran, has refused to allow the tests and has said a bone marrow transplant would endanger the children.

The high court expressed concern that no one had represented the children during earlier court proceedings, which led to Friday’s order.

Bosze’s attorney, Edward Jordan, has argued since the controversy began that a bone marrow transplant is Jean-Pierre’s only hope. But doctors at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin announced on July 25 that the boy was too sick for a transplant to be successful at that time.

Despite that, Bosze wants a donor on hand in case his son goes into remission. Jean-Pierre has been undergoing intensive chemotherapy treatment.

Other members of the Bosze family, including a 1-year-old that Bosze fathered by an Atlanta woman, have been tested and found to be unsuitable donors. The National Bone Marrow Registry is looking for a donor.

Jordan argued before the Supreme Court that Reynolds was wrong to put the blood test decision in the hands of the twins’ mother, whose relationship with Bosze ended when she was eight months pregnant.