Information Review

The film is based on the novel of the same title by Jodi Picoult starring Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin, with Nick Cassavetes directing.

This is a story of Anna Fitzgerald who is 13 years old. Her sister Kate has been diagnosed with leukemia (cancer) since she was a baby-Kate's doctor gave the idea to the parents that they could possibly have another child who could be the donor of umbilical blood cells to the sister Kate. The parents, Sara and Brian conceived a child thru a Petrie dish that would match exactly to Kate's blood type for the purpose of putting Kate in remission.

When Anna is born, her cord blood is utilized to help (by then, 2 year old) Kate. No problem. There is absolutely nothing invasive about retrieving cord blood. It is taken from the umbilical cord after it is removed -and would otherwise be considered bio-waste.

When Kate, 16, is in need for a kidney transplant (the endless treatments of chemotherapy and other drugs over the years have caused kidney failure), their parents Sara and Brian demand that Anna donate a kidney to Kate. As her older brother Jesse turns to arson over his frustrations with his family's motto of Kate only, Anna has grown tired of being a harvest. She hires attorney Campbell Alexander to represent her in court in an attempt to get a judgment stopping her parents from using her body anymore. Sara, who is obsessed with keeping her beloved Kate alive at all costs, feels betrayed by her youngest child while her husband understands the immense pressure on his youngest daughter. Anna wants to help Kate because she loves her sister, but knows that it must be her decision not a mom who sees her as a biological feeder mechanism.

Anna is a thirteen year old girl who has healthy but has to donate her body to Kate, her sister, who has a rare form of leukemia. Anna was conceived only to help her older sister survive. When she is pushed too far, Anna fights back for the right to make her own choices about her body.

Her brother, Jesse has also had enough with his parents choices. He chooses to act out by setting fires, which ironically, his father (Brian) has to put out.

Their father, Brian, is pushed into a hard position. He loves his children and his wife, but sometimes his wife seems only to care about one person in the family, Kate. When Anna decides to sue them, he moves out with her and the family unravels more.

Sara, who in my opinion was a selfish woman who only cared about Kate, no matter the consequences to her other children, was supposed to be a moving character. I thought she was unbearably horrible. The true question of the book was who would ever allow a woman like that to become a parent?

A film based on this book will be released on June 26, 2009.