Giffords Brain Transplant Into 9 Year Old Clone

I've been exploring this idea a bit in another thread and I thought it was time for this go get its own thread.

I think it's possible Giffords has undergone a partial brain transplant into the body of a clone of Giffords born 9 years ago.

We've been cloning animals since the sixties, so a human clone is no hurdle today, it's readily accomplished. Sheep farmers have been doing it since the nineties. As far as I know there are no laws against human cloning, but there was a federal funding ban in the United States.

As for brain transplants, partial brain transplants have been successful in animals, so doing it in a human is plausible. The main hurdle to overcome is rejection. This rejection is mooted if you transplant into a cloned host. Throw in a few fetal stem cells to knit the brain tissue together and the rest is recovery. If you survive you become a walking advertisement for the service.

If you were going to carry this out covertly you'd have some explaining to do. You'd have to explain why the little girl disappeared. Presumably she'd be given a different identity, an adult in a 9 year old's body, the classic "if I knew then what I know now" scenario. You'd also have to explain why the adult's body suddenly underwent massive brain surgery and started acting lobotomized (at worst) or like a 9 year old (if they transplant the child's brain tissue into the adult body instead of throwing it out).

All of the technology described is well within our present medical capabilities, all that's required is the will to do so. If you were 31, and were given this option to radically extend your life at the expense of a clone grown just for you, would you take it? You'd have 9 years to think it over and 9 years to grow older all the while knowing that little clone of you is just starting its life.