30.08.47: ONE OF THE first women to have had a revolutionary 'head
transplant' has discovered that her donor torso is pregnant.
The child inside her body is being
claimed by another woman. A court in Cleveland, Ohio, is to rule on the case tomorrow.
Anna Hengvist, who was a recovering quadriplegic, had contracted an
antibiotic-resistant liver infection.
'It was so unfair,' she said. 'The growth facilitators were beginning to knit
my spine back together when I got a life-threatening infection.'
This was when Dr Charles White, of Case University in Cleveland, stepped in
with a head transplant proposal.
Head transplants, which had been a key interest of Dr White's
grandfather, are unnecessary now thanks to improved body repair techniques. But in Hengvist's case it
seemed the only option.
The body donor was a pregnant woman who had been declared brain-dead.
'That woman has stolen my daughter's body,' said the donor's mother. 'The
baby comes from her egg. She is my grandchild and I demand custody.'
An expert witness for the defence, neurocyber specialist Dr Massimo Scolari
argues that the only real test of identity is self-consciousness.
'Machines can perform most bodily functions, so the body isn't crucial to
a person's identity.'
The prosecution has argued that the donor could to all intents and purposes be
considered still alive. JB
