- Published: December 21, 2021
- Updated: December 21, 2021
- University / College: Baylor College of Medicine
- Level: Undergraduate
- Language: English
- Downloads: 10
Doctor Bailey was researching on cross-species organ transplants when baby Fae was born with a hypoplastic left heart syndrome that is fatal. Infants born with this condition usually have a lifespan of two weeks or less. Doctor Bailey and his team found out that a baboon’s heart is very similar in physiology to the human heart thus deciding that they might be able to successfully implant the baboon’s heart in Baby Fae, giving her another chance at life.
Anencephaly is the condition when a neonate is born without a large part of the brain and skull. It is a neural tube defect which affects the tissue that grows in the brain and the vertebra. This defect starts very early in pregnancy when the upper part of the neural tube does not close. The causes of exactly this occurs have not yet been scientifically proved but research has shown that it is influenced by toxins in the environment the mother lives and poor nutrition including lack of folic acid which is essential for the development of the embryo. (Adam Medical Encylopedia)
Anencephalic babies are born unconscious and they usually die within the first few days of life. Since the brain is not developed it is not capable of doing anything except keep the lungs and the heart working.
For the last couple of decades, there is a shortage of organs like livers, hearts, and kidney in the United States so doctors have started using anencephalic babies for their organs before they are officially pronounced dead. (Kolata, New York Times) The debate remains that whether it is morally right to use such babies for organs to save other lives and or should they be given medical care and kept barely alive.
The term organ donor is misleading in this case because none of these babies are actually given a chance to live while donating their spare organs by free will and nor do they write it in their wills. An organ donor is actually people who donate a kidney because they have two, or let their loved ones know to donate their organs when they die a natural death.
