A MOTHER who hopes to have a "designer baby" in a bid to save her seriously ill child, faces a further setback after a shock court victory by pro-life campaigners.

Denise Kelly's four-year-old son, Nathan Howarth, suffers from the rare genetic disorder fanconi anaemia and she is desperate to have a "designer baby" to save him.

Miss Kelly and her partner, Mick Howarth, of Marion Street, Great Lever, hope to have revolutionary treatment involving IVF embryos being screened to ensure a new baby would be a genetic match to help Nathan. Stem cells from the baby's umbilical cord could then be used in Nathan's treatment.

However, their dream has now suffered a setback after a shock decision at the High Court in London.

Pro-life campaigner Josephine Quintavalle won her legal battle over the "ethically objectionable" screening of test tube embryos to provide "donor siblings" for sick children. Ms Quintavalle, acting on behalf of the public interest group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core), argued in a one-day hearing earlier this month that giving this type of screening the go-ahead would mark the beginning of "designer babies".

Mr Justice Maurice Kay ruled that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) had no legal power to licence embryo selection by "tissue typing" to help sick brothers or sisters.

Miss Kelly, aged 32, said: "This decision will force more parents to travel to America for treatment.

"People who don't understand the issues shouldn't be allowed to bring cases like this.

"It really annoys me. I will get the treatment one way or another eventually. Parents' hopes are being raised and then their dreams are being taken away."