The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Essay Questions

How did Henrietta’s race and gender impact her life?

Most significantly, Henrietta would not have developed cervical cancer if she were not born with a cervix. Moreover, Henrietta's race was connected with her family's tenuous economic and social position; they did not have a great deal of money or prestige, and so she did not have access to second opinions or options for care.

She might also have received better treatment if she were white, and certainly her doctors would have been less likely to take tissue samples from her without her consent. Lastly, the fear of doctors so prevalent in the Black community may have made Henrietta delay her medical treatment.

The book makes frequent reference to Henrietta's "immortality," derived from both the continual use of her undying cells in scientific research and her significance in the lives of her surviving relatives. Do you think either of these constitutes immortality? What's necessary in order for someone to be immortal?

I think that immortality requires an unchanging sense of self, so neither of these things qualifies as immortality. Henrietta herself cannot continue to learn and change and grow, though her cells and her memory still live on. Still, I think that the best hope any of us have for immortality is to remain living in the memories of our friends and family, so I understand why these things are called immortality.

One of the central controversies of the book is about the ownership of cell lines. Do you think that the patient who donated the tissue should retain ownership of the cell line, or should they pass to the ownership of the researcher who patented them?

I believe that the researcher who patented them should own the cell lines. It is the researcher who must perform the necessary techniques to establish and develop the cell line, not to mention the work of stabilizing and marking them. The donor does not lose anything by having their tissues used for experimentation after they have already been removed. However, I do think that the donor should receive a small portion of the royalties from the sale of these cell lines.

Why do you think Rebecca Skloot was able to get close to the Lacks family when so many others could not?

I believe it was Rebecca's tenacity and generosity, mixed with her genuine interest in the person of Henrietta Lacks, that allowed her to befriend the Lacks family. Rebecca was truly curious about Henrietta, not just seeking to gain financial stakes in her story like Cofield or to obtain biological material from the family like Susan Hsu. Rebecca made sure that some of the royalties from the sale of her book went to establishing a scholarship fund that would directly benefit Lacks descendants, which marks her as the only person who ensures that the Lackses receive financial compensation for the use of their foremother's cells.

Additionally, Rebecca is remarkably tenacious in getting ahold of the Lacks family members. She calls the family members repeatedly, and patiently waits when they change their minds about meeting with her. She does not push or force them to meet her, but instead waits when they are truly ready.

Henrietta’s doctors did not tell her about certain important details about her medical treatments, including the side effects of radiation and the terminal nature of her cancer. Why do you think they did not disclose this information?

One reason why Henrietta's doctors may not have disclosed information about her disease and treatment to her is because of the racism of the day; they may have assumed that Black people could not comprehend the side effects or make good decisions for themselves, and so did not bother to give them this vital information. Henrietta's doctors may also have dreaded having serious conversations about end-of-life care because they found them upsetting. If they chose to be upfront with Henrietta about her treatment as well as the time she had left, they would need to walk her through the emotional turmoil of dealing with this information

Lastly, it is also possible that Henrietta's doctors may have forgotten to tell her this information, or may have thought that one of the other people who offered her care had told her.

How did Henrietta’s early death impact her family?

Henrietta's early death impacted her family severely. Her husband Day had to take two jobs in order to support his children, so Henrietta's cruel cousin Ethel moved in to look after the children while Day was at work. Ethel had hated Henrietta, so she abused Henrietta's children horribly, especially Joe/Zakariyya. Ethel's husband Galen also sexually abused young Deborah.

Towards the end of the book, Zakariyya comments that if his mother had lived, he might have been a better person (pg. 283). If Henrietta had lived, she would have looked after her children and ensured that they were not abused by a cruel and vindictive relative.

What are some of the textual examples of unequal medical treatment received by Black people?

One example of the unequal medical treatment received by Blacks is the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In this study, researchers recruited Black men who were infected with syphilis. However, they did not provide treatment to these men or even tell them what disease they had and how it could be transmitted. They took regular biological samples from the men, but even when an effective and safe treatment for syphilis had been developed, did not disclose this information to the research subjects. The purpose of the study was to observe the progression of syphilis.

Eventually, a large number of the men died, and an even larger number infected their wives and children, causing numerous health problems. When the details of the study came to light, the enormous outcry led to the establishment of more robust medical ethics guidelines and review boards.

Do you think of the characters of George and Margaret Gey? They used cells from Henrietta without her consent to develop the HeLa line, but did not profit from it.

I think that George and Margaret Gey are dedicated researchers trying to improve the world of science. While it's true that they created the HeLa cell line without the consent of Henrietta or any of her family members, they were acting within the established scientific norms of their day. Also, neither of them made any money off of HeLa—in fact, Rebecca notes that "sometimes [Margaret] couldn't make their house payments or buy groceries because George had drained their account yet again buying lab equipment they couldn't afford." (pg. 220) They spent their own money in their quest for scientific innovation. Additionally, neither of them actually took the tissue sample from Henrietta without her consent; it was simply given to them.