[PW] video based on or inspired by Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper"

[Shari Haber]

Melanie:

Back in 1990 there was a real case of a California couple who decided to 
have a baby specifically to be a bone marrow donor for their teen-age 
daughter. The baby wasn't genetically engineered. Here's an abstract of 
the story:

Woman Is Having Baby to Save Her Ailing Daughter; [Home Edition]
DENISE HAMILTON. Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext). Los Angeles, 
Calif.: Feb 16, 1990. pg. 1

Abstract (Summary)
Doctors said the bone marrow can be obtained at little risk from an 
infant who is at least 6 months old. And doctors say the Ayalas' 
17-year-old daughter, Anissa, is likely to still be alive then. The 
chances that the two siblings' tissues will be compatible are about one 
in four.

The Ayalas decided to go ahead with the pregnancy even though Anissa's 
doctor, a pediatric oncologist at City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, 
advised [Mary Ayala] not to become pregnant just for Anissa's sake.

Meanwhile, the Ayalas are waiting out the last two months of pregnancy. 
"We face it every day, that maybe today Anissa gets sick," Mary Ayala 
said. "But you just can't dwell on it."

Here's a follow-up story:
Bone Marrow Recipient Now Eases Patients' Ordeals; [Home Edition]
JOE MOZINGO. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif.: Jun 25, 1997. pg. 1

Abstract (Summary)
More than six years after her parents weathered strong criticism and 
beat daunting odds to provide her with a life-saving bone marrow 
transplant, Anissa Ayala-Espinosa is working to keep others from facing 
the same ordeal.

Amid the heated national debate that followed the family's decision, 
Marissa Eve Ayala was born April 3, 1990. Fourteen months later, Marissa 
Eve successfully gave a matching sample of bone marrow and saved her 
older sister's life.

Two years ago, the American Red Cross, through the National Marrow Donor 
Program, launched a program to get more Latinos to register as bone 
marrow donors. Ayala-Espinosa, who had been volunteering at the Red 
Cross since her recovery, got a full-time job with the program, called 
Hispanics Giving Hope.

More to the point, in 1993 there was a made-for-TV movie called "For the 
Love of My Child: The Anissa Ayala Story" that aired on NBC:

"The mostly engaging 1993 TV movie For the Love of My Child: The Anissa 
Ayala Story (NBC Monday at 9 p.m.), made with understanding and care, 
explores the sometimes conflicting feelings that swirl around a family 
when one of its members is stricken with a potentially deadly disease. 
Ayala (Teresa DiSpina) is the leukemia-stricken 16-year-old whose 
parents conceive another child in the hope that it will provide a 
suitable match in a potentially life-saving bone-marrow transplant."

While I cannot find a copy of this particular movie, the television show 
"City View," in 1992, aired "A Mother's Gift," which told the Ayalas' 
story. This film (and it really is "film") appears only to be available 
at UCLA's Film & Television Archive.

Shari Haber
MCLS Reference Center
shaber at mcls.org



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Melanie Barker" <mbarker at collegiate-va.org>
To: <list at project-wombat.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 7:59 AM
Subject: [PW] video based on or inspired by Picoult's "My Sister's 
Keeper"


> Hello all!  Recently I had a middle school science teacher ask me 
> about a
> video that some of his past classes enjoyed.  He described the video,
> which sounded a lot like Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper (a sibling 
> is
> genetically engineered to be a blood/organ match for her sick sister).
> After a fruitless search, I asked for more information, and he said it 
> was
> inspired by Picoult's book.  He could offer no other details.
>
> Does anyone have any knowledge of a 
> video/movie/straight-to-DVD/Lifetime
> Movish version of My Sister's Keeper, or at least a film inspired by 
> the
> book?
>
> Second question:  Does anyone know if My Sister's Keeper was inspired 
> by a
> specific case?
>
> A thousand thanks for your help!
>
> Melanie
>
>
>
>
> Melanie Barker
> Middle/Upper School Librarian
> Reed Gumenick Library
> Collegiate School
> North Mooreland Rd.
> Richmond, VA 23229
> mbarker at collegiate-va.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Project Wombat
> list at project-wombat.org
> http://www.project-wombat.org/
>