A Jehovah’s Witness couple have become embroiled in a Supreme Court battle over their refusal to allow a Brisbane hospital to give their young son a blood transfusion.

Their son, “J”, has a severe liver disease and doctors have said he will die from liver failure without a transplant, News Corp has reported.

He suffers from portal hypertension and a genetic condition which can cause issues for multiple organs.

The operation would cure his liver disease, put an end to his hypertension and provide him with a higher quality of life, doctors say.

Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, where J is being treated, has asked the Supreme Court to allow medical staff to administer and necessary blood transfusions during the operation.

A paediatric gastroenterologist at the Lady Cilento, Dr Loo Ee, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that in her opinion J will die within three years without a liver transplant.

The doctor, who has treated J since 2008, said that the transplant was the only way to help the young boy.

“In my opinion, liver transplant is the only treatment available to address (the boy’s) condition and will give him the best chance of survival,” she said.

“In a small patient, even a relatively small amount of blood loss can be significant.”

The affidavit also stated that J’s parents had told Dr Ee the year before that they were not willing to consent to a blood transplant due to their religious beliefs.

The boy’s father signed a transplant consent form, but first crossed out the words ‘blood transfusion’.

In another affidavit filed in court Queensland Liver Transplant Service director Dr Jonathan Fawcett said that 95 percent of transplants required necessary blood transfusions.

He said avoiding a transfusion would require doctors to change the way they would carry out the operation and could compromise J’s chances of recovery and result in “a poor outcome”.