Children as Tissue Donors

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Shih-Ning Then

   Pages 1-18

3. The Ethics of Children Donating Tissue to Another

   • Shih-Ning Then

   Pages 19-61

4. Ethical Frameworks and Their Influence on Practice

   • Shih-Ning Then

   Pages 63-97

5. Regulation of Child Tissue Donors in the United Kingdom

   • Shih-Ning Then

   Pages 99-124

6. Regulation of Child Tissue Donors in Australia

   • Shih-Ning Then

   Pages 125-161

7. Regulation of Child Tissue Donors in the United States

   • Shih-Ning Then

   Pages 163-190

8. Medical Professionals’ Views on Legal and Non-legal Forms of Regulation

   • Shih-Ning Then

   Pages 191-222

9. Conclusion

   • Shih-Ning Then

   Pages 223-242

10. Back Matter

    Pages 243-245

    PDF

This book examines the position of children who provide tissue to potentially save the life of another. It questions whether child donors of all ages have been treated appropriately and whether they are sufficiently protected in acting as tissue donors, and ultimately considers whether a new regulatory response is needed to benefit donor children.


The book couples a legal exposition of the donor child’s position with the medico-ethical reality of clinical practice. In recent years, a growing body of literature concerning the clinical experiences and outcomes for child donors has emerged. This book adds to this by examining another dimension – the regulatory frameworks at play. It examines the ethical arguments for and against children acting as tissue donors and provides an original analysis of the legal and non-legal regulatory frameworks governing children’s participation in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. It combines these doctrinal and theoretical approaches with insights into clinical practice gained from the results of qualitative research conducted with health professionals.


The analysis inevitably explores the more general issues of children’s right to make medical decisions, the role of parents in decision-making, the value of the best interests test and alternative (legal and ethical) standards, rights of participation of children before the courts, and the role of law and other forms of regulation in a clinical context.

• ethics of tissue donation
• tissue donation
• tissue transplantation
• children's rights
• medical ethics
• human tissue and transplantation legislation
• child tissue donor
• children in the courts
• Convention on the Rights of the Child
• organ donation
• organ transplantation
• parental consent
• child assent
• regenerative tissue
• stem cell donor
• bone marrow
• peripheral blood stem cell
• hematopoietic stem cell
• bioethics
• donor children

“This is an excellent introductory book. It is written at a high enough level to be helpful to medical professionals, while parts of it are still accessible to families who may have concerns about child tissue donation. It provides important information from the perspective of healthcare workers and is most appropriate for those with a medical background.” (Sarah K. Sawicki, Doody's Book Reviews, April 26, 2019)

• Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

  Shih-Ning Then

Shih-Ning Then is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law and a member of the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at Queensland University of Technology. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of health law and ethics. Her research interests include issues in healthcare faced by groups traditionally considered as vulnerable in society who have often been denied a ‘voice’, including children and adults with decision-making difficulties. Shih-Ning is an interdisciplinary scholar who works with clinicians, ethicists and social scientists in her research. She is the recipient of competitive grant funding and is currently a member of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council’s Organ and Tissue Working Committee.

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