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Plot
Conceived by means of in vitro fertilization, Anna Fitzgerald (Abigail Breslin) was brought into the world to be a genetic match for her older sister, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), who suffers fromacute promyelocytic leukemia, in order to keep her alive. Her family members are introduced one by one and each tells about how Kate's illness has affected them personally. When Kate turns 15, she goes into renal failure. Eleven-year-old Anna knows that she will be forced by her parents to donate one of her kidneys. She also realizes that she may not be able to live the life she will want to lead - she may be unable to cheer-lead, play soccer, or be a mother. Anna tells her parents that she does not want any of this, and proceeds to sue them for medicalemancipation and the rights to her own body. Her extremely overprotective mother, Sara (Cameron Diaz), who leads an obsessive campaign to keep Kate alive, is indignant at Anna's decision and even strikes her across the face when she receives the notice of court proceedings. Attorney Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin) agrees to work for Anna as her guardian ad litem, suing for partial termination of parental rights. It is later learned he agreed to take the case not for the notoriety, but because he has epilepsy and understands her predicament of not having control over her own body.
The film is interlaced with flashbacks that detail Kate and Anna's closeness, as well as how Kate's illness has affected her siblings' lives and their relationships. In a flashback, Kate also meets a fellow cancer patient, Taylor Ambrose (Thomas Dekker), whom she begins dating.