In his controversial bestseller “The Spare,” released several years ago, Prince Harry claimed that the British royal family allegedly expected him to become the actual savior sibling for his elder brother. Yes, a blood donor, organ donor, and everything related.
This sparked a wave of public outrage after the book’s release, but as it turns out, similar cases also occur in ordinary families, far removed from the thrones. As, for example, happened to the user u/Zestyclose-Second440, the author of the story we’ll tell you today.
More info: Reddit
We often say that any person is unique and comes to this world with their distinct goal – but the fact is that this is nothing but a lie
Image credits: senivpetro / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author of the post is now 32 years old and she has two elder brothers, 34 and 37 years old, but she only maintains relationships with the middle bro
Image credits: Zestyclose-Second440
Image credits: wavebreakmedia_micro / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Both the author’s and her middle brother’s purpose of coming to this world was to be a spare for their sick elder sibling
Image credits: Zestyclose-Second440
Image credits: Wavebreak Media / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Since her very first day the author became the regular blood and bone marrow donor for her brother ill wish cancer – until he finally got well at 14
Image credits: Zestyclose-Second440
Image credits: Drazen Zigic / Freepik (not the actual photo)
However, both the parents and the elder brother kept mistreating the younger kids badly, so they both left home after coming of age
Image credits: Zestyclose-Second440
Recently the mom demanded the author donated her kidney to the eldest bro – but this time the woman firmly said No
So, the Original poster (OP) explains that she is originally from South America and is the third child of her parents, after older brothers “Drew” and “Mark.” Both the author and Mark were essentially born with the sole purpose of saving their older sibling when he was diagnosed with cancer aged two.
Mark turned out to be unsuitable over his own health issues, so our heroine was born – and literally from the first days of her life, she was Drew’s donor. Blood, bone marrow, stem cells – the little girl was in pain and scared, but her mother always told her to just endure. And she endured – she simply had no choice.
Meanwhile, Mark and the OP were essentially left on their own – their parents’ undivided attention was focused on the hospital room where Drew lived. There were procedures, doctors – but also the best gifts, gaming consoles, and whatnot. When Drew finally recovered at 14, his parents’ attitude didn’t change. He was a typical golden child, and his treatment of his younger siblings, alas, was just bullying.
Both the author and Mark moved to Europe, and now, in their 30s, they maintain relationships only with each other. So when the OP’s mother recently called in the middle of her workday (she works in the police), she knew something extraordinary had happened. And so it was. It turned out that Drew, who had taken to the bottle in recent years, urgently needed a kidney donor.
Yes, you read that correctly – even decades later, the mother expected the OP to fly right over and meekly donate her kidney to her bro. And when our heroine said No, she was immediately met with a barrage of insults. The climax came when the mother frankly admitted that “this is what she was made for.” The OP had had enough of it. She just hung up and decided to pour out her feelings online.
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
In fact, the issue of savior siblings is highly debated worldwide – after all, the procedure essentially involves genetic selection of embryos based on illness and compatibility with the older child. The medical effectiveness of this approach is undeniable, but its ethical implications are highly questionable. For example, in some European countries, this approach is permitted, while in others, it is prohibited.
The story of Adam Nash, the first savior sibling in human history, is quite well known. He was born to donate cord blood for his sister, Molly, who had Fanconi anemia. It was also crucial that Adam avoid becoming ill himself.
The process was medically successful – both siblings survived – but its ethics remain questionable even a quarter of a century later. And yes, in South America today, there are no specialized regulations governing such processes, as, for example, is noted in this paper. However, in the story we describe, the situation is somewhat different.
Firstly, based on the siblings’ ages (they are all quite older than Adam Nash), their parents were likely simply trying to conceive saviors for their eldest child – but their behavior subsequently appears completely outrageous and unreasonable. Incidentally, this was also noted by numerous commenters on the original post.
According to the responders, our heroine did the right thing by refusing to donate – after all, she had already suffered so much to ensure her brother was alive and well. Almost all commenters firmly believed the author has already given her bro everything she could, and now she owes nothing to anyone. So do you, our dear readers, also share this view?
Most people in the comments claimed that the author did a right thing, and that she actually owes nothing to no one
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