Savior Siblings

One child is born to save, born out of a need since the other child has a fatal disease. This second child is a savior sibling, born to save the older one, born to help, born to sacrifice. All that has been done to save the older one hasn’t helped; their life could end at any time, they could be gone forever, although there is still hope. Is it fair to expect one sibling to sacrifice for the other?

In Jodi Picoult's, My Sisters Keeper, a girl was born for one reason only, and that was to save, which relates to real life, since other families have made the same decision. Anna was the sister of Kate, who had APL. Immediately after Anna’s parents found out that Kate had this fatal disease, they made the decision to have another child, since this was the best way to save Kate. Once Anna was born they used her umbilical cord for blood, which was only the beginning of Anna’s procedures. For numerous families, this exact situation has happened. There is a one article about a girl named Katie who has a disease called Diamond Blackfan Amenia and her only cure was a bone marrow transplant from a genetically matched sibling. After her parents found out, they chose to have another child. They ended up having a healthy baby boy named Christopher. Is this the right decision for both the families? Were they truly wanting another kid or was it the thought of losing a child that made the choice for them to have one more child? Was it fair for the parents to ask their children to give for their sibling?

Although Anna and Christopher were both born to save their older sisters, Anna spent most of her life giving and Christopher was able to make his sister healthy after the very early procedure. Though Anna spent her time having procedures done on her to help Kate, Christopher was able to grow up with his healthy sister. Growing up, Anna never knew what would happen next or when she would be needed to help her sister. Although, Christopher probably doesn’t remember what he did since he was only a baby, Anna has had multiple procedures and would remember it forever. Facing the idea of Kate needing Anna for something and her not being there, was difficult for their parents, so they weren’t allowing Anna to go to a hockey camp or do anything she really enjoyed. Being a normal child was taken away, her freedom was gone, and her life was controlled by Kate’s needs.  While Christopher did one procedure for Katie, he was able to grow up as a normal child. Each of the parents really wanted to save their first born child. But were they thinking about the second born child that was born to save? Did they know what would happen to the child if their older sibling didn’t live? How it would affect the rest of their childhood?

Asking a child to sacrifice for their sibling is a difficult thing to do. Even though parents may want to save their first child, do they consider how it will affect the younger one? Is it really fair to the younger child if they were only born to save the older one? These constant sacrifices cause the child to lose part of themselves. Whether it's a part of the body or a part of identity, it has been torn away forever.