A few weeks ago, I read a fairly long article, How a Face Transplant transformed Katie Stubblefield's Life The article is about face
transplants and some of its evolution and of course, more specifically, the
story of Katie Stubblefield who lost her face in a suicide attempt at the age
of 18 and was given a face transplant from the face of someone who had signed
up to be an organ donor. Katie is said to be the youngest person to have
undergone this experimental procedure.
Specialists
doctors in plastic surgery were able to successfully remove the face of the now
dead donor and give it to Katie so she can live a fairly normal life again.
While reading the article, I had several questions about the possible physical,
legal and psychological implications of a person being given the face of
another person.
First,
the resourcefulness and genius of the doctors who have been involved in face
transplants generally and specifically those who worked tirelessly on giving
Katie the semblance of a normal life again is something to be marvelled at. Katie's story and the doctors'
work are very important reminders that plastic surgery is much more than just
boob reduction or face lifts. Sometimes, it may be for some people, the
difference between living and dying. This may sound a bit ironic especially in
Katie's case where she lost her face originally in a suicide attempt. However,
the writer of the article took pains to inform her reader that Katie's suicide
attempt was a spur of the moment thing and she ordinarily is not suicidal.
Anyway, I am sure the point is made that plastic surgery is not just about
satisfying some people's sense of vanity.
Now to
the several questions that came to my mind while reading the article:
- Having taken another's face, will the recipient look exactly like the donor? If so, will she have to go through life being mistaken for someone else even though she and the donor might not have been of the same height or shape?
- How does someone like Katie who from the time she could look in the mirror and recognise herself up to the age of 18 when she lost her face, cope with looking in the mirror and consistently seeing a face other than the one she had seen for almost 18 years?
- What are the possible legal implications of having a totally different face especially in a country where records exist of the citizens? I'm thinking National passports and other forms of identification.
- Will DNA from the face still be that of the donor?
- How will Katie and other face transplant recipients deal with the psychological effect of not only seeing a face they may not be able to totally relate to and having to explain who they are to friends and acquaintances who might not be aware of what they had gone through?
I'm sure
many other questions exist but for now, the above will do. In the course of the article, my first
question on whether Katie or any other face transplant recipient will look
exactly like the donor was answered; while the recipient may initially look
like the donor, as time goes on and the new face adjust to the bones of the
recipient, features of both the old and new will merge into the new face
I am not
sure the answers to my questions do not already exist, especially since
virtually everything I know about face transplants are drawn from the article I
read and I did not do any further research on it. But I have no doubt that
there may arise from this new procedure interesting legal and especially
psychological developments and issues that may need to be addressed.
There is
also no doubt that new developments in science and technology will also bring
about new developments in our laws.
