Child will bring hope for sick big brother

Joe and Julie Fletcher had to fight long and hard to convince IVF experts they should be allowed to have a "designer baby".

Mrs Fletcher, 32, is now pregnant with an embryo selected to be a genetic match for her two-year-old son Joshua, who suffers from the rare condition, diamond black fan anaemia. Without a cure, sufferers are unlikely to live beyond 30.

It is hoped stem cells from the baby's umbilical cord will "kick start" Joshua's body into producing healthy blood cells, as well as giving the

family another much-wanted child.

The Fletchers won their battle last year against a ban on the creation of children using IVF and embryo screening specifically to act as donors. The HFEA relented after other couples were forced to go abroad for the treatment. The Fletchers are now looking forward to having Britain's first designer baby.

Mr Fletcher, 37, a Belfast fireman, said: "It was such a relief after all we've been through."