THE parents of a designer baby are facing an agonising wait to see if the unborn child can save their son's life.

Michelle and Jayson Whit-aker's son, Charlie, needs a life-saving stem cell transplant before his fifth birthday, a few months away.

Their unborn baby, a perfect tissue match, is due in three months, but tests are necessary to find out whether the procedure is possible.

Michelle, 31, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, became the first woman in Britain to conceive following successful fertility treatment in the US.

She and her husband, Jayson, 32, went abroad because they were not allowed the technique in Britain, as Charlie's illness is not believed to have a genetic cause.

Charlie has the rare disorder, Diamond Blackfan Anaemia (DBA), a bone marrow failure affecting red blood cell production. He is at risk of developing cancer, and is unlikely to live beyond 30.

After Charlie is five, he will become too big for the process to work effectively.

His parents, who live in Oxfordshire, had hoped the umbilical blood of their one-year-old daughter, Emily, could replace Charlie's bone marrow, but she was not a match.

Now the Whitakers and grandparents June and Dave Kynoch, of Chester-le-Street, hope the new baby will have compatible blood.

Mrs Kynoch said: "Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed it will be good news."