Octuplet Birth to Mom of Six Sparks Debate

[dgriffin]

Octuplet Birth to Single Mom of Six Sparks Debate


Octuplets' Grandma: Daughter, Already Mother of 6, Had 8 Embryos Implanted Last Year

Jan. 30, 2009



While the now-famous California octuplets cry from time to time in their hospital beds, a host of medical and ethical experts are raising questions over the extraordinary births.
The babies' mother already has six children.

The octuplets' grandmother Angela Suleman told The Los Angeles Times that her daughter had a fertility treatment last year in which the eight embryos were implanted, touching off a firestorm over the extreme treatment and its implications both for the mother and the children

"Anyone who transfers eight embryos should be arrested for malpractice," University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Arthur Caplan told ABC News.

"[Experts] would be astounded if a fertility specialist actually implanted eight eggs," ABC News medical contributor Dr. Tim Johnson said. "Current guidelines, which are guidelines, not law, would suggest between one and four. … A vast majority of experts would say that [implanting eight] is bad practice."

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I hadn't noticed before she is a single Mom. Should that matter? I wonder if she's Catholic?

[bobbbiez]

I don't care if she's Catholic or whatever. Besides what does that have to do with it?

She is a single mother with six kids, living at home with her parents and I'm assuming does not work who purposely had 8 eggs implanted in her. What I think she should have implanted is a brain.

Some how, I'm thinking some $ signs from something is in this woman's focus. Who in their right mind would do this just to have kids?

What is wrong with her parents allowing this crap? She lives in their house and should be under their rules or out you go.
The fact that the family filed for bankruptcy two years ago, I feel money from somewhere is behind all this.

Dave, you asked the wrong question. It should have been...."are any of them playing with a full deck?"

[rrogers40]

Plant Corn, Get Corn

[dgriffin]

Oh geez, bobbbiez. I was making a joke! You know? Catholic? Lots of kids? Time was when the church told us to have lots of children and as soon as we could. I didn't fully understand, since I was in the third grade when I first heard it. Every time a family was mentioned from the pulpit, the NUMBER of children was always included, with a slight frown if there was an only child and a big smile if the number was nearing a dozen. (OK, I exaggerate.)

So, I went home and told Mom she should have more children.
"What?" she said, "where did you hear that?"
"In school, Mom. Sister Liquorice said good Catholics have lots of children. So I think we should, too."
"How many more brothers," she asked,"do you think will fit in that bedroom with all of you?"
I thought about it for a moment.
"Look, Mom," I said, "I'm not much on details. I'm just a kid."
"I'm aware of that, David."
"I'll mention it to Dad," I said. "He's a nuts and bolts sort of guy. He'll know what to do."
"Yes," she said, "he'll know what to do."
"And if he thinks that ....."
"OK, enough," she said, her voice beginning to rise.
"Mom, I'm just the messenger."
My grandmother had been sitting in the kitchen listening to this.
"Maybe," she said to me, "you should carry a little horn around with you when you make these announcements."

[bobbbiez]

lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Being Catholic myself I never listened to that crap about having kid after kid. I did what I had to do and not putting a burden on my family by having too many that we couldn't afford to bring up. It's that simple.

Hey, if the diocese wanted to supplement my husband's income I would have all the kids I could produce. ;D

[Clipper]

Maybe they were looking at the overall picture, and thought that married women needed to increase productivity to cover those that became nuns, and didn't have any children. Might have been a simple attempt to bring a balance.

Gotta know you were on the productive side, because I sure can't picture you as a nun Sunshine, haha.

[bobbbiez]

lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you mean, "nun in the morning and nun at night?" NOT!

If I practiced the Catholic beliefs on births, could you imagine 14 little bobbbiezs running around. ;D NOT!

[Clipper]

Heavens to mergatroid! I could not even imagine such a thing!

Seriously though. It is a wonder that this woman didn't die. Having that many fetuses could have burst her uterus, and it is simply a miracle that 8 fetuses survived to birth, and will be an even bigger miracle if the majority of them survives over the next few weeks and months.

[corner]

it will be an even greater miracle if the tax payers don't foot the bill....the diwm wit dr who did the implantation should be made to support these kids..and beside does this kind of fertility tx cost in around the 20 grand range?

[dgriffin]

My limited reading on wombs does bring to mind one article that said fertility drugs often caused multiple fetuses. That was ok, because usually most would expire during a normal pregnancy. The body simply cannot support so many, usually. So, I guess multiple implantations are done with a similar hope that one or few will survive. Unless there were strong objections from the parents, doctors routinely aborted all but one or two. Which causes me to wonder if doctors considered Catholic women with strong anti-abortion convictions to be acceptable candidates.

I don't remember where I read that. (It wasn't in Modern Plumber.) Perhaps someone can enlighten us further.

I wonder if the mother of (now) 14 ever heard of Andy Warhol?

[Clipper]

One of the cable news networks this morning said that the hospital bills are expected to be upwards of 3 million dollars. How's that for a bill? Her father is said to be working in Iraq as a government contract worker. I hope her dad is working lots of overtime in Iraq. Even American contract help in Iraq don't make THAT kind of money.

[bobbbiez]

I'm with you Corner!

I know for a "fact" that procedure around here runs $20, 000 and up.
Again I state I feel this was done for cash, some how, for the family in question. Who in their right mind would want eight more kids when they already have six? Especially when they can't afford the ones they already have.

I'm sure all will come out in the news eventually.

PS: Can you imagine what some dumb a** magazine will pay the family for the first picture of the babies?

[Clipper]

Gee Dave. I know I didn't read about wombs in the "Modern Plumber" either. I was first educated about these mysterious little buggers in the pages of Penthouse Forum. I later in life became aware of their "recreational value" and the feeeeels gooood thing, and finally learned the REAL purpose when my son was born, and later became well educated on the subject when I took my EMT training and learned to deliver a baby, haha.

[concerned]

The reason for all the kids was to populate heaven, I might have that mixed up with baptism.

I read somewhere that the sperm for the eight kids came from a friend of hers who donated sperm for the mom's first six kids. Maybe she has something against intercourse. She is single and lives at home. There was a family in one of the parishes I served at who had 12 children, eleven where adopted. I remember having supper with them one Sunday evening---convinced me never to have children. I was a major event just to use the one bathroom!

[concerned]

NBC news just said the mother of the 14 children was obsessed with wanting children.

And believe me this is going to be one major debate. There were a few statements made by some doctors that could easily lead to the argument for government supported euthanasia.