Nightline E-mail: August 31

W A S H I N G T O N, August 31 -- Some stories in the news have perfect endings. They wrap up nicely with a bow. A sick child cured. A family reunited. A modern day medical miracle. But, as most of us know all too well, life just isn't like that every day. Some people struggle against unbelievable odds and still don't reach victory. Maybe they lose. Or maybe they just fight the good fight and earn no more than another day to keep on fighting.

Tonight Nightline correspondent John Donvan introduces you to a family of fighters: five year-old Henry Strongin Goldberg and his parents. Henry was born with a rare genetic disease - a disease that his parents learned shortly after his birth would likely kill him before he reaches kindergarten.

How do parents cope with such devastating news? There are two choices: to fall apart or to become as educated and focused as possible. Henry's parents chose the latter. They quickly immersed themselves in the language, the research and the experts associated with their son's rare disease: Fanconi anemia. And while the situation looked bleak, they discovered one very bright opportunity. A bone marrow transplant from a matched sibling would give Henry the best chance of surviving the deadly leukemia that he was destined to face.

But Henry had no such sibling. So his parents decided to make one. To many, this decision is morally suspect. To Laurie Strongin and Allen Goldberg it was unhesitating. They made the decision to join some pioneering scientists in an emerging medical treatment. That treatment involves creating embryos through invitro fertilization and determining which of those embryos is both free of the inherited disease and also an ideal match for Henry. For people who strictly interpret the beginning of life at the moment of conception, the picking and choosing of these handfuls of cells goes beyond the pale. Were Laurie and Allen making a baby or curing Henry? Could they morally do both?

Medical research on embryos has been unavoidable in the news these days. Stem cell research is one kind of embryonic research. The kind of treatment the Strongin-Goldberg family sought is another. All have fallen under the ban on federal funding of research on embryos. Today, this research is only possible in private labs.