Obstacles in writing/reading TILOHL

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks shares the story of a African American women who died over fifty years ago and still has cells living today, of which she did not even know were taken from her. From reading the synopsis of TILOH, I believe this story needs to be heard by the public to inform people of Henrietta’s life. Author, Rebecca Skloot, informs people of Henrietta’s journey and the journey of her cells, which have lead to multiple discoveries in science and to the birth of many life saving medications. By informing the public of Henrietta’s experience, it opens the eyes of many citizens to what could actually happen to someone’s cell sample. It creates awareness of the actuality of what may happen when letting a doctor take a bio-sample from your body. Many people don’t realize the risk of what may happen when seeing a doctor and neither did Henrietta. Little did she know that when going to the only hospital in her area that treated African Americans for free, her cells would be taken and they would live longer than she would, lead to medical discoveries, and sold for billions of dollars.
When writing TILOH author, Rebecca Skloot, was challenged with creating a book of Henrietta’s life without revealing a bias view and still create a book able to suite a broad audience. Readers of TILOH range from young to old, men to women, and republicans to democrats, so Rebecca Skloot’s audience was not very identified. Her views of Henrietta needed to be open, dealing with a topic that people can take many different sides on. During this book, Rebecca has to keep her own personal values hidden from the actual story, letting the readers have their own personal views on the events happening.
As a reader, I anticipate many challenges while reading TILOHL. I expect to be challenged continuously on my views of what happened to Henrietta. Do doctors need consent needed when taking a sample of one’s cells to research for a better cause? If so, what if their cells do lead to a medical breakthrough, should the donor be compensated? Should Henrietta’s family be compensated for her donation? How should Henrietta be recognized for the medical discoveries of her cells? Is it morally okay to colon Henrietta, if the resources are available? Does her family get any authority in what is happening to her cells? How would Henrietta feel today if she had known that her cells where the ones leading to medical discoveries?

Visit Rebecca Skloot's site to learn more.