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Saving Her Sister's Life by Marissa Ayala, Teen Vogue In 1990, Marissa Ayala's birth stirred a national debate-should families conceive one child years older to save another's life? In her own words, 18-year-old Marissa shares her story. My sister, Anissa, is like my second mom. Even though she's 18 than me, I don't know how much closer you could be with someone. In 1988, when she was 16, Anissa was diagnosed with leukemia¹. If she didn't find a bone marrow donor, doctors said, she would die within three to five years. My parents weren't matches, so for a few years they went through every organization they could-the Life-Savers Foundation of America, the National Marrow Donor Program, City of Hope-to find donors. They couldn't find a single match. At the time, the Hispanic rating for the National Marrow Donor Program was practically nonexistent, which means there were hardly any Hispanics on the list as donors. Since that's our heritage, it wasn't likely my parents would find someone who could work as a match for my sister. Because matches are more common within families than with nonrelatives, every single extended family member got tested, but none of them matched with Anissa. Finally, one of my mom's best friends said as a joke, "Mary, you should have another baby." My mom, who was 43 at the time, thought her friend was crazy. But one night my mom dreamed that God was telling her to have a baby. She took that as a sign, and in April, 1990, I was born. My parents were hoping I would be a match. When I was old enough to be tested, I turned out to be a perfect match for my sister. My family was really excited and had me donate bone marrow to her 14 months after I was born-my marrow was transplanted into hers to stimulate healthy blood-cell growth. It was a total success. I recovered perfectly-my parents even have a video of me running around the same day I had my surgery. Although at first my sister had to be in an isolation room for a while so that no germs could get to her, she recovered well. She's been cancer-free for the past 18 years. There has always been a lot of media attention surrounding our family because of our situation, though. It was apparently really controversial that my parents were

Saving Her Sister's Life by Marissa Ayala, Teen Vogue In 1990, Marissa Ayala's birth stirred a national debate-should families conceive one child years older to save another's life? In her own words, 18-year-old Marissa shares her story. My sister, Anissa, is like my second mom. Even though she's 18 than me, I don't know how much closer you could be with someone. In 1988, when she was 16, Anissa was diagnosed with leukemia¹. If she didn't find a bone marrow donor, doctors said, she would die within three to five years. My parents weren't matches, so for a few years they went through every organization they could-the Life-Savers Foundation of America, the National Marrow Donor Program, City of Hope-to find donors. They couldn't find a single match. At the time, the Hispanic rating for the National Marrow Donor Program was practically nonexistent, which means there were hardly any Hispanics on the list as donors. Since that's our heritage, it wasn't likely my parents would find someone who could work as a match for my sister. Because matches are more common within families than with nonrelatives, every single extended family member got tested, but none of them matched with Anissa. Finally, one of my mom's best friends said as a joke, "Mary, you should have another baby." My mom, who was 43 at the time, thought her friend was crazy. But one night my mom dreamed that God was telling her to have a baby. She took that as a sign, and in April, 1990, I was born. My parents were hoping I would be a match. When I was old enough to be tested, I turned out to be a perfect match for my sister. My family was really excited and had me donate bone marrow to her 14 months after I was born-my marrow was transplanted into hers to stimulate healthy blood-cell growth. It was a total success. I recovered perfectly-my parents even have a video of me running around the same day I had my surgery. Although at first my sister had to be in an isolation room for a while so that no germs could get to her, she recovered well. She's been cancer-free for the past 18 years. There has always been a lot of media attention surrounding our family because of our situation, though. It was apparently really controversial that my parents were

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**Another Perspective** --- *Read the article and answer the questions that follow.* ### Saving Her Sister’s Life *by Marissa Ayala, Teen Vogue* --- *In 1990, Marissa Ayala’s birth stirred a national debate—should families conceive one child to save another’s life? In her own words, 18-year-old Marissa shares her story.* My sister, Anissa, is like my second mom. Even though she’s 18 years older than me, I don’t know how much closer you could be with someone. In 1988, when she was 16, Anissa was diagnosed with leukemia¹. If she didn’t find a bone marrow donor, doctors said, she would die within three to five years. My parents weren’t matches, so for a few years they went through every organization they could—the Life-Savers Foundation of America, the National Marrow Donor Program, City of Hope—to find donors. They couldn’t find a single match. At the time, the Hispanic rating for the National Marrow Donor Program was practically nonexistent, which means there were hardly any Hispanics on the list as donors. Since that’s our heritage, it wasn’t likely my parents would find someone who could work as a match for my sister. Because matches are more common within families than with nonrelatives, every single extended family member got tested, but none of them matched with Anissa. Finally, one of my mom’s best friends said as a joke, “Mary, you should have another baby.” My mom, who was 43 at the time, thought her friend was crazy. But one night my mom dreamed that God was telling her to have a baby. She took that as a sign, and in April, 1990, I was born. My parents were hoping I would be a match. When I was old enough to be tested, I turned out to be a perfect match for my sister. My family was really excited and had me donate bone marrow to her 14 months after I was born—my marrow was transplanted into hers to stimulate healthy blood-cell growth. It was a total success. I recovered perfectly—my parents even have a video of me running around the same day I had my surgery. Although at first my sister had to be in an isolation room for a while so that no germs could get to her, she recovered well. She’s been cancer-free for the past 18 years.
Transcribed Image Text:**Another Perspective** --- *Read the article and answer the questions that follow.* ### Saving Her Sister’s Life *by Marissa Ayala, Teen Vogue* --- *In 1990, Marissa Ayala’s birth stirred a national debate—should families conceive one child to save another’s life? In her own words, 18-year-old Marissa shares her story.* My sister, Anissa, is like my second mom. Even though she’s 18 years older than me, I don’t know how much closer you could be with someone. In 1988, when she was 16, Anissa was diagnosed with leukemia¹. If she didn’t find a bone marrow donor, doctors said, she would die within three to five years. My parents weren’t matches, so for a few years they went through every organization they could—the Life-Savers Foundation of America, the National Marrow Donor Program, City of Hope—to find donors. They couldn’t find a single match. At the time, the Hispanic rating for the National Marrow Donor Program was practically nonexistent, which means there were hardly any Hispanics on the list as donors. Since that’s our heritage, it wasn’t likely my parents would find someone who could work as a match for my sister. Because matches are more common within families than with nonrelatives, every single extended family member got tested, but none of them matched with Anissa. Finally, one of my mom’s best friends said as a joke, “Mary, you should have another baby.” My mom, who was 43 at the time, thought her friend was crazy. But one night my mom dreamed that God was telling her to have a baby. She took that as a sign, and in April, 1990, I was born. My parents were hoping I would be a match. When I was old enough to be tested, I turned out to be a perfect match for my sister. My family was really excited and had me donate bone marrow to her 14 months after I was born—my marrow was transplanted into hers to stimulate healthy blood-cell growth. It was a total success. I recovered perfectly—my parents even have a video of me running around the same day I had my surgery. Although at first my sister had to be in an isolation room for a while so that no germs could get to her, she recovered well. She’s been cancer-free for the past 18 years.
--- ### Growing Up as “The Baby Who Saved Her Sister” **An Insight into Family, Identity, and Overcoming Challenges** Having a baby just to save their other daughter’s life. I don’t remember a lot of that because I was so much younger. When I was a baby, Anissa and I were on the cover of Time and there was a made-for-TV movie on NBC in 1993 called *For the Love of My Child: The Anissa Ayala Story*, made about my family’s experience. I first started really researching my own story when I was in the seventh grade. My friends were Googling themselves and nothing came up, but when I searched for myself, a lot of news articles popped up. I read negative comments from a few newspapers about how my parents were just using me to save my sister’s life and weren’t going to love me, and that what they did was morally wrong. It surprised me. I thought, “Really? People think about my family like that?” Some of the articles said that if I hadn’t been a perfect match for my sister, my parents would have disowned me. And that just wasn’t the case. I try to see both sides of the story, but I ultimately don’t agree with the critics. They were probably just looking out for my safety, thinking that my parents were going to have a baby solely for the purpose of saving their child. But they don’t know us personally: My family loves me so much. Every year our family takes part in the Relay for Life cancer walk and we raise money for the American Cancer Society. We try to spread the message that the need for marrow donors is great. And more importantly, that despite being diagnosed with whatever type of cancer, there’s a way to get through it. There are so many ways growing up as “the baby who saved her sister” has influenced my life. I’ve taken it, been humbled by it, and have grown from it. But it won’t be my whole life story. In the future, I plan to study either child development or psychology. My dad always tells me, “Marissa, you should do something you want to do every day.” I want to help people. **Visual Explanation** The provided image includes text that narrates a personal story and a photograph of two smiling young women in an outdoor setting. The bright, natural background suggests a sense of warmth and positivity. --- Note: In an educational setting
Transcribed Image Text:--- ### Growing Up as “The Baby Who Saved Her Sister” **An Insight into Family, Identity, and Overcoming Challenges** Having a baby just to save their other daughter’s life. I don’t remember a lot of that because I was so much younger. When I was a baby, Anissa and I were on the cover of Time and there was a made-for-TV movie on NBC in 1993 called *For the Love of My Child: The Anissa Ayala Story*, made about my family’s experience. I first started really researching my own story when I was in the seventh grade. My friends were Googling themselves and nothing came up, but when I searched for myself, a lot of news articles popped up. I read negative comments from a few newspapers about how my parents were just using me to save my sister’s life and weren’t going to love me, and that what they did was morally wrong. It surprised me. I thought, “Really? People think about my family like that?” Some of the articles said that if I hadn’t been a perfect match for my sister, my parents would have disowned me. And that just wasn’t the case. I try to see both sides of the story, but I ultimately don’t agree with the critics. They were probably just looking out for my safety, thinking that my parents were going to have a baby solely for the purpose of saving their child. But they don’t know us personally: My family loves me so much. Every year our family takes part in the Relay for Life cancer walk and we raise money for the American Cancer Society. We try to spread the message that the need for marrow donors is great. And more importantly, that despite being diagnosed with whatever type of cancer, there’s a way to get through it. There are so many ways growing up as “the baby who saved her sister” has influenced my life. I’ve taken it, been humbled by it, and have grown from it. But it won’t be my whole life story. In the future, I plan to study either child development or psychology. My dad always tells me, “Marissa, you should do something you want to do every day.” I want to help people. **Visual Explanation** The provided image includes text that narrates a personal story and a photograph of two smiling young women in an outdoor setting. The bright, natural background suggests a sense of warmth and positivity. --- Note: In an educational setting
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