Teen mum given liver transplant go-ahead

An 18-year-old Bay of Plenty mother has been given the go-ahead to donate part of her liver to save her baby's life.

Kataraina Pewhairangi's 10-month-old daughter Teyah-Mere was hospitalised in January when she started bleeding internally as a result of the life-threatening condition, biliary artesia.

The baby's condition means bile builds up in her liver because ducts meant to drain it to the gall bladder do not work properly.

Ms Pewhairangi was initially told that, although she was a blood match to her daughter, she could not be assessed as a live organ donor because of an ethics committee ruling which set the lower age limit for live donors at 21.

However, the Ministry of Health has now said she can be the donor.

Health Minister David Cunliffe said yesterday there were no legal bureaucratic impediments to Ms Pewhairangi donating part of her liver to her baby that may die without it.

He had made some calls and understood her age was no longer a problem and the mother could be a donor.

"I have been assured that Teyah's case will be assessed on exactly the same criteria as any other case involving an organ transplant," he said.

The ministry's chief medical officer David Galler said the age limit of 21 was set many years ago for the first operations of this kind and shouldn't apply in this case.

He said that 18 seemed a far more sensible age and clinicians needed to work with Ms Pewhairangi as a potential donor for her child, if that was what they thought was the right thing to do.