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RS at the movies - My Sister's Keeper

Film of the moment:

My Sister's Keeper is a moving and engaging film, that covers issues concerning genetic engineering, PGD and saviour siblings. It is about two sisters, one who is dying of cancer, and the other who could donate her kidney to save her sister's life. I would hate to say too much and give away the story, but the film starts with Anna Fitzgerald describing how her embryo was genetically selected to be a donor match for her sick sibling, Kate. Anna finds a lawyer and takes her parents to court, claiming that she has the right to choose whether to donate a kidney to her sister. It transpires that Anna has had several, and sometimes painful, procedures carried out on her to help her sister.

I tend to show only exerpts to classes, who beg me to let them see how the film ends. The film is based on a novel by Jodi Piccoult, and includes technology that is available today. In the UK, donor siblings can only be selected if selection has some benefit to the new child (if selection prevents a genetically inherited disorder, for example). Jamie Whitaker is a well known real life case of a boy who had a donor sibling, but his parents had to go to America to make this happen.

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