Parents Tell of Fetus-to-Fetus Therapy Choice

A Texas couple who described themselves as anti-abortion told congressmen Monday, in often emotional testimony, why they decided to undergo a fetus-to-fetus tissue transplant in attempting to save their unborn child.

“We do not agree with abortion,” said the Rev. Guy Walden, a Baptist minister from Houston, his voice breaking at times. But “we believed that . . . this would be consistent with a pro-life, anti-abortion position.” Theirs was the first public report of such surgery.

Walden and his wife, Terri, who have already lost a son and a daughter to a rare genetic disorder, spoke before the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee. The chairman, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), has introduced a bill to allow federal support of fetal tissue research.

The ban was imposed by the Ronald Reagan Administration. Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, in announcing his decision to continue it, said he feared that such use of fetal tissue would encourage women to have abortions.

Researchers, supported by the conclusions of an independent federal advisory panel, say that as long as abortion is legal, such tissue should be available to medicine.

Scientists believe the research holds extraordinary promise for treatment of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases, diabetes, leukemia and many other serious conditions.

Researchers also believe that fetal tissue transplantation in utero , or before birth--offers a better chance than waiting for the child to be born.

“The difficulty with a postnatal transplant is that the fetus has already suffered the ravages of the disease and is medically compromised at the time it needs to be strong,” said Dr. Robert Slotnick, who performed the transplant. He is director of prenatal diagnosis and reproductive genetics at the UC Davis school of medicine.

Terri Walden underwent the experimental surgery May 23, 1990. Their son Nathan was born prematurely last fall, but researchers do not know yet whether the transplant--using fetal liver cells from a terminated tubal pregnancy--has worked. If not, Slotnick said, the child could undergo a bone marrow transplant from a sibling.

The Waldens have five children, three of whom have Mucopolysaccharidosis Type I, an enzyme deficiency that limits a child’s life to less than 10 years. After their first child became ill, Terri Walden underwent genetic testing during subsequent pregnancies. The Waldens said that doctors advised them to abort the diseased fetuses.

“We told them that in no uncertain terms we are opposed to abortion,” Walden said.

When the Waldens learned that their unborn child could be treated in the womb with fetal tissue, they said they decided, after considerable soul-searching, that it would be morally acceptable.

The Waldens and their physician were challenged by Rep. Clyde C. Holloway (R-La.), a member of the subcommittee. He told them that he found their decision “very much like stealing and saying: ‘it’s wrong to steal, but it’s OK to use the stolen product.’ ”