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The debate about face transplant
脸部移植的争论
Hello. I'm Mike Procter.
And I'm Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
"A young girl from North India suffered terrible face injuries. Her hair got caught in a grass cutting machine. The machine pulled her whole face from her head. Her parents watched with horror as her face fell to the ground."
You may remember Sandeep Kaur, from northern India. She suffered a terrible accident in 1994. She was only nine years old. Sandeep's hair got caught in a grass cutting machine. The machine pulled away her whole face from her head. Sandeep's parents put the face in a container with ice. At the hospital doctors did the impossible. They attached her face back to her head! This was the world's first face 'replant.' They re-attached her face.
Since then, doctors have moved forward with this technology. They can now perform face transplants. That is, doctors can give someone a completely different face! The first face transplant was in November 2005. Doctors performed the operation at Amiens University Hospital, in France. Their patient was Isabelle Dinoire. Unlike Sandeep, doctors could not re-attach Isabelle's face. It was too badly damaged. Instead, they gave her a completely different face. They performed a face transplant.
Isabelle needed a transplant because of earlier events. In May 2005 a dog attacked Isabelle. The dog bit off her nose, lips and chin. Isabelle has no memory of the event. She can just remember waking up. She was lying on the floor surrounded by blood.
Doctors in the hospital looked at her face. They were not hopeful. They did not think they could repair the damage. After a short period, a different doctor examined Isabelle. His name was Doctor Devauchelle. He believed he could help her. He suggested a face transplant.
Other transplants are more common. People with diseased organs need new ones. Doctors take healthy organs from people who have recently died. These people are called organ donors. They 'donate', give, their organs. Doctors can remove a patient's diseased organ. And they put the donor's organ in its place. They 'transplant it.' Doctors have transplanted the liver, heart and kidneys. They had also transplanted ears and hair. But no one had ever transplanted a face!!
Doctors in France decided that this was the best operation for Isabelle Dinoire. They discussed it with her. And she agreed. They used the face from a young woman, Maryline St. Aubert. Sadly, Maryline had killed herself. But she did not damage the skin on her face. Maryline's family permitted the doctors to use this skin for Isabelle. The operation took fifteen hours. First, doctors had to remove the skin from Maryline's face. They then placed it onto Isabelle's face. They used Maryline's skin to cover Isabelle's nose, mouth and chin. It was the world's first 'part' face transplant. After the operation Isabelle said,
"At first I was afraid to look at myself. But when I did, it was already great! I could not believe it. I thought my face would be big and blue. But it was already beautiful."
The face transplant has caused some debate. Some experts are concerned about the emotional and mental effects. The face is one of the most individual parts of the body. Many people connect the way they look with who they are. Patients have to accept their new look as a part of them. They have to get used to seeing a different face every day. This can be very difficult. But Isabelle said,
“It may be someone else's face. But when I look in the mirror the face I see is me."
Another concern is the donor's family. Isabelle's donor was Maryline St. Aubert. People ask what affect a face transplant will have on Maryline's family. What happens when a donor's family see the patient wearing their dead daughter's face? But doctors make it clear that patients will not look anything like their donors. They may use the skin from someone else's face. But it is the bone structure that gives the face its shape. So Isabelle does not now look like Maryline. However, she does not look like she did before either. Doctors say it is more like creating a ‘third face.'
Some people are concerned about face transplants for moral reasons. They say that the operation puts looks above health. Face transplants are very dangerous. This danger may be too great just for the way a person looks. But other experts argue that living with a face that looks very strange can have terrible effects too. It can force a person to live alone, afraid of people’s reactions.
Technology for face transplants will create new choices for people. This is not just for people who have suffered injuries. It includes people with other problems - such as diseases that mark their faces. Doctors have the technology to give people whole new faces - if they wish.
But not everyone does! Marc Crank is thirty four years old. He was born with a serious condition. It causes raised skin growths, or tumours, to grow on his face and head. He has had many operations to remove the tumours. And the operations have damaged his face. Marc says his condition has left him with an ‘unusual face.’ But, he states that he would not like a face transplant. He says,
"To perform a face transplant just to make my appearance more acceptable to the world is not right. It should not matter that I look different from other people. Maybe it is time to stop judging a person by the way they look. It is what they are like as a person inside that really matters. If you want to help people with facial damage then get to know them. Accept them as they are. Welcome them into your home and into your community. This would be a far more effective treatment than any operation."
Medical experts continue to debate these difficult moral and medical issues. But to Isabelle Dinoire a face transplant saved her life. She said,
"I have been saved. Lots of people write saying that I need to go on. That is wonderful. It is a miracle somehow."
She also expressed her thanks to Maryline's family.
"They were sad. They were mourning. Yet they agreed to give a second life to people. Thanks to them there is a future for me and for others."
What do you think about this issue? Should doctors be permitted to perform face transplants? How important are looks? How much does society influence our choices? Write and tell us, we may include your comments in the future listener mail program.
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