According to a Johns Hopkins Medical Archives website about Blalock, Thomas, Taussig, and the Blue Baby surgeries, Eileen Saxon, the infant depicted in the movie as the first to undergo the procedure, became cyanotic again several months later. She died after another attempt at the surgery. Her experience helped the surgical team determine that the procedure worked best on patients who were over 3 years old.
Based in part on the magazine article "Like Something The Lord Made" by Katie McCabe. It was published in the Washingtonian, and earned McCabe the 1990 National Magazine Feature Writing Award.
Dr. Irving Sorkin, a retired dentist, was instrumental in getting Katie McCabe's article made into a feature film. Dr. Sorkin died of lymphoma on October 18, 2007, at the age of 88.
The film features a large number of cast members who have appeared on another HBO hit The Wire including Al Brown (Valcek), Robert F. Chew (Prop Joe), Clayton LeBouef (Orlando), Luray Cooper, Henri Edmonds, Tel Monks, Jeffrey Coleman, Doug Olear, Elisabeth Noone, Marty Lodge, Dave Trovato, Antonio D. Charity, Kevin Davis (Uncredited), and Tray Chaney.