In support of stem cell research

The recent revival of debate over whether to allow stem cell research in the name of medical progress reminded me of the snap decisions we all make about issues we have no real way of understanding, writes blogger Emma Suddaby . . . we're experts in our own armchairs.

If I were asked 15 years ago whether I thought stem cell research was a good idea, I definitely would have answered "no", imagining mad scientists concocting horrifying human hybrids for their own evil amusement.

Today, my outlook has changed considerably. But then in the intervening years, I developed a medical condition, as yet incurable, and stem cell research is - wouldn't you know it - the only glimmer of hope on the horizon.

And it illustrated to me how easily we all make snap decisions, based on facts, maybe, but untouched by any personal experience of the issues involved.

I had a boyfriend once, who was very sure he disagreed wholeheartedly with blood transfusions. He'd read accounts of people who, after receiving one, later started developing undesirable and out-of-character personality traits.

He had declared to me on several occasions that he would never have one, and even talked about having a Living Will drawn up so if anything happened to him, rendering him unconscious, medics would be aware of his feelings and not give him someone else's blood.

Rheumatoid Arthritis can cause ongoing anaemia problems and it was only a few months in to our brief relationship before my doctor sent me to hospital for a blood transfusion. On this particular occasion I needed several bags of blood and when my boyfriend arrived to visit, I watched the blood drain from his face as he took in all the needles, tubes and bandages.

I'd assumed he was horrified by the choice I'd made but when we talked about it later, he told me the experience had changed his opinion.

He'd actually been horrified to realise that my RA could make me so anaemic that I needed someone else's blood in order to survive, and relieved someone had donated it in the first place.

And he couldn't fail to notice the contrast of how I'd staggered into hospital, all bloodless, and then practically skipped out, all pink and healthy . . .

He'd made his earlier decision, you see, from his Ivory Tower - we all do it.

But the trouble with Ivory Towers is that while you get a good, all around view of the world, its hard to see anything in detail.

It's only when life comes along throwing spanners in the works that we truly begin to understand the issues involved in a problem enough to form a reliable opinion.

As usual I've digressed, but you can see what I'm getting at. It's impossible, and unthinkable, to stand in the way of medical progress.

The need to develop medical knowledge and technique is driven by a survival instinct almost bigger than we are, and I truly believe that if we try to halt legal research into the possibilities of stem cell research, we will be opening the door and ushering in just the sort of illegal, dark experiments we all fear and fantasise about in the wee small hours of the night.

• Inspirational Emma Suddaby shares her ” highs, lows - and various murky places inbetween” - with her blog. Emma, a finalist in the 2007 Shropshire Star Woman of the Year competition, was diagnosed with aggressive, destructive rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 22. She later won a dream flying scholarship with the charity Flying Scholarships for the Disabled and now holds a National Private Pilot’s Licence.