B
Baby Fae heart transplantation
The Event The first cross-species heart transplant
into a human infant
Date October 26, 1984
Place Pasadena, California
A group of physicians at Loma Linda University Medical
Center in Pasadena, California, performed the world’s first
animal-to-human transplant in a newborn, when they
placed a baboon’s heart into the chest of a twelve-day-old in-
fant named Baby Fae. This highly experimental procedure,
which ultimately failed, opened a Pandora’s box of ethical,
moral, scientific, and legal issues.
It became clear that all was not well with Baby Fae
shortly after her birth. The small infant, born in
Barstow, California, on October 14, 1984, had
hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a lethal
birth defect in which the heart’s underdeveloped
left ventricle cannot supply the body with sufficient
blood flow. There was no well-established, successful
treatment for her malformed heart, so the infant
went home with her mother to die. A few days later,
Doctor Leonard Bailey’s team at Loma Linda Uni-
versity Medical Center (LLUMC) offered to replace
the baby’s heart with the heart of a baboon in a pro-
cedure never before attempted in a newborn infant.
Baby Fae received the heart of a young female ba-
boon on October 26 and died twenty days later, on
November 15. Her body had rejected the animal’s
heart.
Impact The news media closely followed the baby’s
initial progress and ultimate decline. Days after the
transplant, images of a yawning, stretching baby
could be seen on the evening news. Flowers, get-well
cards, and donations poured into the hospital. Criti-
cism and praise were abundant from both the lay
and the scientific press. Those in support of the sur-
gery pointed out that the successful use of animal or-
gans would alleviate the shortage of human organs.
Scientists were quick to respond that there was no
indication that cross-species transplants would suc-
ceed. Animal-rights activists were troubled by the
sacrifice of a healthy animal. Legal scholars objected
to the use of a minor in such a highly experimental
procedure. The consent obtained from Baby Fae’s
parents came under scrutiny by the National Insti-
tutes of Health, which concluded that the LLUMC
physicians were overly optimistic in regard to the
baby’s long-term chances of survival and had failed
to discuss the possible use of a human heart to save
her. Ethicists condemned the xenotransplantation,
because they felt that the procedure was not in the
baby’s best interests: Palliative surgery that had re-
cently been developed by William Norwood would
have given the baby a 40 percent chance of survival.
Animal-to-human organ transplantation did not be-Baby Fae lies in the Loma Linda University Medical Center on Oc-
tober 30, 1984, four days after her heart was replaced with that of
a baboon.(AP/Wide World Photos)