Ethical Issues In My Sister's Keeper

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In the novel My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult we are introduced to Anna Fitzgerald, a thirteen year old girl who has a sister with leukemia. Anna acquires a lawyer to sue her parents for medical emancipation when she was asked to donate a kidney to her sister. At age two, Kate was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. In a desperate need of a donor, Kate’s parents Sara and Brian Fitzgerald looked for alternatives to save their daughter. From a recommendation from Kate’s doctor they came across preimplantation genetic diagnosis. With this procedure they selected the embryo that conceived Anna to guarantee that she would be a perfect match to Kate. From the second Anna was born she has been donating to Kate. Kate’s disease is mentioned …show more content…

She brings up a hard to determine ethical concept. Should a child be brought to this earth to save an existing sibling? Should the child be required to undergo multiple procedures that do not benefit them and could possibly hurt them? In most cases of a “savior sibling” , after they are born they give the umbilical cord blood to the sibling and that cures them or helps them greatly. But in Kate’s case it only helped her to be put in remission for 5 years. And based on the type of cancer she has the same procedure can not be used on her twice because her body becomes immune to it. So, they are constantly doing something different to Kate and Anna. Until it comes to kate needing a kidney, and the procedure possibly hurt both of them. This brings the concept of Sara and Brian and their parenting, and if they are taking the savior sibling too far. This is what brings people in opposition to it, because you're helping out a child that is sick but harming a child that is healthy and could possibly cause permanent damage to the child. I believe the author’s argument is that “savior siblings” may seem like a good idea but once the demands for the savior child become too complicated it is better to not risk because you don't want to lose both of

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