John F. McCullagh - ADAM’S RIB

I was one of thirty embryos,
but I, alone, survive.
I am the Savior sibling
Without which my sister dies.

We started out in vitro-
Men in white coats then decided
That I would be implanted,
all the others left to die.

Mollie, my older sister,
carries a defective gene:
Excess hemoglobin
caused anemia extreme.

From my umbilicus they took stem cells
And Mollie’s blood was cleaned.
They say I am a miracle.
To most, that’s how it seems.

But what about the twenty nine
Who died that she might live?
Did they not have a human right
As good as mine to live?

Why could they not be cherished
by our mother from the start?
Instead of summoned into being
as a little girl’s spare parts.

I love my sister Mollie,
And she is awfully fond of me.
I’m not just her little brother-
I’m her insurance policy.

John F. McCullagh

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/adam-s-rib/