A sick baby has been put under the guardianship of New Zealand's High Court so she can receive life-saving blood transfusions.
In August, doctors found a large cancerous tumour in the right side of the 10-month-old's chest and she was diagnosed with stage four cancer in her bones.
She has been given a 90 per cent survival rate with treatment, but is likely to need a blood transfusion and her parents will not consent because they are Jehovah's Witnesses.
There is a high risk she would develop life-threatening complications if she was unable to have a transfusion.
In a recent decision, the High Court granted the Auckland District Health Board's application to place her in the guardianship of the court for nine months to allow her to receive transfusions.
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The baby had already received an urgent transfusion when doctors biopsied her tumour, which is permitted by law in emergency situations.
The baby's parents have consented for her to have chemotherapy, then surgery to remove a tumour, but were unable to consent to a blood transfusion because of their religious beliefs.
Justice Helen Winkelmann has appointed them as general agents of the court for the child for all purposes other than the administration of blood.
"Their ongoing support and care for (the child) is crucial, and making these orders, I hope, resolves the difficult position they presently find themselves in," she said.
She appointed doctors as agents of the court for the administration of blood.
The baby and her parents have name suppression.
In July 2012, a two-year-old girl from Auckland suffering a rare kidney disease was put under High Court guardianship.
Her Jehovah's Witness parents would not consent to blood transfusions that would accompany a life-saving kidney and liver transplant.
