Ethical committee rejects father-to-son transplant

An ethical committee decided against a father's kidney donation to his son, Wuhan Evening News reported on Tuesday.

Weng Xianqing's son, Weng Junwen, received a transplant with a kidney donated from his mother Guo Huifang in 2009, when he was 19 and suffered from renal failure.

However, Guo's kidney in her son's body failed in January and the father, whose kidney was a match to his son's, wanted to donate one of his kidneys to his son.

But an ethical committee that comprised doctors, legal workers and social workers decided against the donation after careful examination of the son's condition and discussion of the family's situation.

The committee agreed that the failure of his mother's transplant suggests that the son's condition was not suitable to accept a kidney from his close relative, while it also would be too risky for the 56-year-old father, the only bread earner of the family, to make the donation.

Because they refused the father, the son has to wait for a kidney donation from the social pool.