I was one of thirty embryos, <br />but I, alone, survive. <br />I am the Savior sibling <br />Without which my sister dies. <br /> <br />We started out in vitro- <br />Men in white coats then decided <br />That I would be implanted, <br />all the others left to die. <br /> <br />Mollie, my older sister, <br />carries a defective gene: <br />Excess hemoglobin <br />caused anemia extreme. <br /> <br />From my umbilicus they took stem cells <br />And Mollie’s blood was cleaned. <br />They say I am a miracle. <br />To most, that’s how it seems. <br /> <br />But what about the twenty nine <br />Who died that she might live? <br />Did they not have a human right <br />As good as mine to live? <br /> <br />Why could they not be cherished <br />by our mother from the start? <br />Instead of summoned into being <br />as a little girl’s spare parts. <br /> <br />I love my sister Mollie, <br />And she is awfully fond of me. <br />I’m not just her little brother- <br />I’m her insurance policy.<br /><br />John F. McCullagh<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/adam-s-rib/
