I'm a chimera? What exactly is that?

Question

I'm 14, I was created via IVF when my little sister was 4, she was conceived naturally, but when she was 4 she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia, she needed stem cell transplants, bone marrow, specific DNA donations. My parents where tested and they were NOT suitable matches, our big sister 7 at the time - before I was born - is adopted, she was tested, but not a match, so I was created in a test tube essentially, as spare parts, because I was created, they made sure I would be a match for my sister, they was a 4/5 chance I would be, and I am, 8 months later I was born, and from day 1 they started taking small things from me, but when I was 5 - by then my sister was 10 and terminal - they started taking bigger things, like bone marrow, stem cells etc. but when I was 12 - sister 16 - things got worse, he needed a kidney, adopted sister wasn't a match, our parents weren't a match, but because I was a test tube baby, they were sure I would be...
But when they tested, I wasn't a match, they were confused, so they did further tests and I wasn't a match to anybody in my family (mum,dad,sisters) and they were confused, they believed I was made wrong - and that just insulted me - but after 7 months of scrutiny, and doctors being wary of my controversial being, they discovered, my hair was a DNA match to the rest of my family, so where other parts of me - made up of familial DNA - but my kidneys and liver, and the rest of me, where made up of different DNA. And they said I was a chimera, in the womb, I was an unidentical twin, but before we had begun developing, my embryo, absorbed hers and although I was only born as 1 Baby, my sisters DNA, is still in almost every cell of my body, meaning inseax of having one DNA code, I have the DNA codes of 2 people, and the other 'person' is my unidentical twin, with the completely different genetics to that of mine.
So it got me wondering about my existence, I do love my family...but I was made in a test tube, not conceived naturally, used as spare parts from day 1, and apparently I am also so fucked up, I have my dead twins DNA in me, or I'm a chimera. People always seem wary of me, like being around me is going to make them ill, I know a lot if people know how and why I wa made, and some know about my weird DNA, it's like I'm the plauge, unnatural, so if your know anything more about chimerism please tell me, and honestly, do you think my existence is contreversial?
I don't even know who I am, I'm the spare parts dish for my sister, im the child that wouldn't exist had my sister not gotten ill, I'm the weirdo with an absorbed embryos DNA inside me, I'm all these things, but I don't even know who I am anymore, sorry for the long rant I'm just confused, help? Please..

Answer 1

You are you! Everybody is unique, you are just slightly more unusual than most people.



But I admit, that is one heck of a story.



Do you resent the way you were born at all? I hope not. It's a bit trite, but we should judge ourselves, if we judge ourselves at all, not on where we came from but on where we ended up.



And people who act weird around you because of your genetic composition are fools.



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"Chimera: a mystical animal cross between a lion and a eagle."

You couldn't even get THAT right: the mythical chimera was part lion, part goat and part snake.



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No, I know, FF. I was just correcting the joker who stated a chimera is a mythical animal.

Answer 2

I'm not really informed as to the whole 'chimera' thing, but I don't think you are a mistake by any means. You do harbor resentment for the way you were used as an item and not a person. If it caused you pain in any way, it should have not been done without your consent. I think creating life for the sole purpose of spare parts is hideous. I really really admire your strength throughout all of this. You are a person, plain and simple. You are not the first person to have an absorbed embryo. You won't be the last. Being conceived IVF is no big deal, and it will probably be much less of a deal in the future. The only thing you can do is live your life. You will probably always harbor a bit of resentment to your parents, and maybe to your sister.. I hope the latter is not the case... she had nothing to do with it. Be your own person, and enjoy the life you have been given, even if it was only given for the sole purpose of being a donor.

Answer 3

That is actually a fairly common incident, and happens naturally apart from ivf or other fertility treatments. Its one of the causes behind having two different eye colors. Most people dont have a clue this has happened until they are in a situation similar to yours.



I think savior siblings are unethical, I do not believe parents should have that right. But the chimera thing is unrelated and quite cool. I am also a chimera, but because I have had a bone marrow transplant. Anyone who has had any organ transplant is as well.

Answer 4

First, you are a person, no more no less. We all have differing starts. Some were born from a drunken night, some planned. You were born special. It is not your start that matters, but how you use your life.



Who you are is not your DNA. When someone gets cancer, it is a mutation in the DNA. That cancer, however, does not make the person lesser or a different person. Your working DNA does not make you a different person than who you are.



You are young and you have time to figure out who you are, but I can assure you that you have more purpose than just donating bone marrow. That said, one thing I am proud of is that I donate blood often. It is a way I help out others. Personally, I think you are old enough now that they should start asking you not telling you. It is your body.



Good luck on your journey. Know that you are more than just the sum of your parts.

Answer 5

You are unusual, but you are not unique. Indeed, medicine creates chimeras all the time with bone marrow transfusions.

All the "weird" stuff doesn't matter. You have a brain that makes you you. Your "absorbed" twin is a piece of you, but that is all.

What matters is what you want to be, and how to be that. If you have a loving family, that is great. If not, you will eventually grow up and move out. Don;t let them pull you down, look to your role models, to what you are good at and what you want to do, and work towards that. If people try to razz you about your dan, laugh at them and point out that just means you are twice what they are.

Answer 6

I promise you that you are loved. Would you rather have not come into existence at all? You belong here, never think otherwise. No human life is a mistake or unwelcome.



Also, I would strongly urge you to read "My Sister's Keeper". You might find a lot of yourself in that book.

Answer 7

Sounds like a movie I saw. This is confusing. How could you be created as 'spare parts' for your little sister? You're older than her. You have to be a bad troll. A chimera is when 2 bodies fuse into one embryo in vitro. So you have one person with 2 sets of dna.



edit:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1078588/



it's like you copied the idea for this story as your question. You can see how we may think you're trolling, right?

Answer 8

You've adequately described what a chimera is, someone with two sets of DNA



It won't make any difference to your life, dont let it bother you, people are more than their biological components, forget what template your body was built with, just be your own person

Answer 9

1

Answer 10

It means you had a twin, but your cells were fused together at some point. It's not that big a deal, most people don't even know it.



You're you no matter what.

Answer 11

Chimera means for example a man's torso on top of a horse body. It's like fuse something to combine something. Like a 2 headed snake.

Answer 12

That's an interesting fake story. Reading too much Jodi Picoult will lower your intelligence. If you're going to read fiction, raise the standard of the novels you choose.

Answer 13

It is exactly same as what you think of.

Answer 14

Chimera: a mystical animal cross between a lion and a eagle.