Octuplets

[harley89]

I have been reading this story and it just blows my mind.  According to news reports this woman is "fairly young ,single" and has 6 other children.  She lives with her parents and had fertility treatments.  Does anybody  else see a problem here

[IndianLover]

 :oo and stop already lol

[Tara]

  Does anybody  else see a problem here

Nope. I'd rather read about people having babies, than people killing them.

[disneyland lady]

Come on now, they didn't even know about that hidden one. Actually most breeders with large batches like that try to get into the press for the freebies. I am figuring that we WILL see them a lot more in commercials for baby wipes and other baby products. The thing that stood out in the article about them that I read was that they have the same last name as the guy who attacked a reporter during an investigation into home scams. But I believe they are in jail.

[Tara]

Come on now, they didn't even know about that hidden one. Actually most breeders with large batches like that try to get into the press for the freebies. I am figuring that we WILL see them a lot more in commercials for baby wipes and other baby products. The thing that stood out in the article about them that I read was that they have the same last name as the guy who attacked a reporter during an investigation into home scams. But I believe they are in jail.

Were talking about humans. ::)

[bams68]

Well if she has 6 already an is due for more....in my opinion she pretty much is killing them. I mean what kind of life can she offer these children since she can't even afford to live on her own.
I havn't read this story an so I may be wrong here. But yeah for me I can't accept this - If she's doing rite by ALL children then good for her. But I dunno - jus a sad case to me.

[Squid]

There is a point of irresponsibility, though.  It's too early to tell but having so many births at once dramatically increases the likelihood of cerebral palsy, etc.  Implanting so many zygotes is not a behavior I'd consider in the best interest of the babies.  They are here now so, of course, I wish them well, including long and healthy lives.

[harley89]

Dont get me wrong I perfer to hear about babies being born  than aborted.  But in this case i do wonder about the ethics of this.  A single woman with six children.  That is one issue. Next issue is from what i have been reading in embryo tranplant usually only  2 0r 3  are implanted. Alot of Drs are questioning the ethics of implanting 8.  Women are conseled before the process that if the implants take that  it is best to abort all but one. Which leads me to the question why not just implant 1.  And I do agree that this young woman ability to provide for all these children is questionable.  Fertility treatments are a great thing. Over my life i have had friends unable to have children and these would have given them that chance.  But maybe it is time for guidelines to be set as to the use of it. I truly hope all these children have great lives. But as said before the 8 may face great difficulties from physical or mental handicaps and those can take time to appear. 

[disneyland lady]

Implanting so many zygotes is not a behavior I'd consider in the best interest of the babies.  

The doctor has to take some blame here in implanting so many viables. I guess there are doctors out there that do not take into consideration the life of a sibling of 14. My mother was one of 19 and left home in 8th grade just to stop having to "help" out all day. Not to mention that the NICU costs $2496 per night per child and it appears WE are footing the bill. Still consider her a breeder - someone who breeds just because she loves the attention. I think the term comes from differentiating between positive and negative parenting.

[Squid]

Implantation procedures cost a great deal of money.  Implanting only one zygote does not have a HUGE likelihood of taking hold.  THe odds go up with multiple implantations but 8 is carrying it way too far imho.  Three really should do the trick.  I know enough about this stuff to get me into trouble... I am no expert.

[Mistyeyed]

if you already have six children,why would you be trying for more/ hopefully the family is independently wealthy and wont be trying to mooch off the state they are in to support them all..

[disneyland lady]

if you already have six children,why would you be trying for more/ hopefully the family is independently wealthy and wont be trying to mooch off the state they are in to support them all..

The family lives in Whittier, CA and the mother is single and 33 years old in 2009. Reportedly works as a technician in a fertility clinic. Her father either filed or completed a bankruptcy 18 months ago per court sites. So I do not see them as independent. If she had it done at the clinic she works at, I hope it gives mothers who truly want a child pause to go to a different as they have to be even more contemptable if they employed her.

[FreecellFanny]

Here's the latest, just posted on Yahoo. Something ain't right here. It's suspicious. Take note of the part I put in bold below:

LOS ANGELES – The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week conceived all 14 of her children through in vitro fertilization, is not married and has been obsessed with having children since she was a teenager, her mother said.

Angela Suleman told The Associated Press she was not supportive when her daughter, Nadya Suleman, decided to have more embryos implanted last year.

"It can't go on any longer," she said in a phone interview Friday. "She's got six children and no husband. I was brought up the traditional way. I firmly believe in marriage. But she didn't want to get married."

Nadya Suleman, 33, gave birth Monday in nearby Bellflower. She was expected to remain in the hospital for at least a few more days, and her newborns for at least a month.

A spokeswoman at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center said the babies were doing well and seven were breathing unassisted.

While her daughter recovers, Angela Suleman is taking care of the other six children, ages 2 through 7, at the family home in Whittier, about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

She said she warned her daughter that when she gets home from the hospital, "I'm going to be gone."

Angela Suleman said her daughter always had trouble conceiving and underwent in vitro fertilization treatments because her fallopian tubes are "plugged up."

There were frozen embryos left over after her previous pregnancies and her daughter didn't want them destroyed, so she decided to have more children.

Her mother and doctors have said the woman was told she had the option to abort some of the embryos and, later, the fetuses. She refused.

Her mother said she does not believe her daughter will have any more children.

"She doesn't have any more (frozen embryos), so it's over now," she said. "It has to be."

Nadya Suleman wanted to have children since she was a teenager, "but luckily she couldn't," her mother said.

"Instead of becoming a kindergarten teacher or something, she started having them, but not the normal way," he mother said.

Her daughter's obsession with children caused Angela Suleman considerable stress, so she sought help from a psychologist, who told her to order her daughter out of the house.

"Maybe she wouldn't have had so many kids then, but she is a grown woman," Angela Suleman said. "I feel responsible and I didn't want to throw her out."

Yolanda Garcia, 49, of Whittier, said she helped care for Nadya Suleman's autistic son three years ago.

"From what I could tell back then, she was pretty happy with herself, saying she liked having kids and she wanted 12 kids in all," Garcia told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

"She told me that all of her kids were through in vitro, and I said 'Gosh, how can you afford that and go to school at the same time?"' she added. "And she said it's because she got paid for it."

Garcia said she did not ask for details.

Nadya Suleman holds a 2006 degree in child and adolescent development from California State University, Fullerton, and as late as last spring she was studying for a master's degree in counseling, college spokeswoman Paula Selleck told the Press-Telegram.

Her fertility doctor has not been identified. Her mother told the Los Angeles Times all the children came from the same sperm donor but she declined to identify him.

Birth certificates reviewed by The Associated Press identify a David Solomon as the father for the four oldest children. Certificates for the other children were not immediately available.

The news that the octuplets' mother already had six children sparked an ethical debate. Some medical experts were disturbed to hear that she was offered fertility treatment, and troubled by the possibility that she was implanted with so many embryos.

Others worried that she would be overwhelmed trying to raise so many children and would end up relying on public support.

The eight babies — six boys and two girls — were delivered by Cesarean section weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Forty-six physicians and staff assisted in the deliveries.

[disneyland lady]

This just gets worse and worse - has a special needs child already and that sadly robs time from other children. I have a Johnny Depp obsession but know I can't handcuff him to my bed without repercussions. If she loves babies so much she really should have gotten a job at a daycare instead of a fertility clinic. Every one of us pogo nuts know about obsession and it is a strong drug but.............this gal has serious mental issues and her employer should have recognized this before they implanted her with a cupboard full.

[arniebear]

When I was at Children's Services we had a case of a Mom early twenties with six kids, all different fathers.  She would have a kid every couple of years because she loved babies, just babies, when the child started going into toddler stage she no longer was interested in them and had another baby, but neglected the older children.  Yes, it is wonderful to want children, but you have to be able to take care of them, and with this amount of kids you better have a large support network, or Children's Services will be at your door.  Just my opinion.

[harley89]

This is really sad. The more I read the more I believe that this woman has serious mental health issues.  This clinic needs to be checked out and hopefully other women seeking help will go to other clinics.  Not being able to have children is heartbreaking.  My friends that could not have children all adopted sibling groups.  But they will tell you to this day while they love the children they have and would not change the decision to adopt them. They would have loved to have had the chance to raise a infant. Sadly infants are rare for adoption. All my friends were told they could not even get on a waiting list.  And this was 20 years ago.  The fertility treaments are a wonderful advancement but in this case I believe it has been misused.  Just because you can does not mean you should.  And Drs have and still do make decisions based on ethics.  My Grandmother has terrible diabetic problems. It reached a point were her foot needed to be amputaded. The surgeon talked with her and checked her out physically. He told my Mother and her siblings. Your Mother is dying she does not want this surgery.  If you want it done you will have to find someone else to do it I wont.  He made the right choice.     

[disneyland lady]

Not being able to have children is heartbreaking.   

My son and his wife tried every expensive thing they could trying to give birth starting when she was in her early 30's. I kept bringing up how I would love a grandchild just as much if it was through adoption but she was intent on having her own. My son has his own business and she was working a good job so it did nothing to impact them financially compared to the impact emotionally every single month. Now she is 44 and was just told that she is too old for adopting a baby because those women who go thru the process of carrying the child rather than abortion are looking for someone who will be of a certain age. She would now be 57 when the child became a teen. I just hope she would consider all the adoptable "older than baby" children that are out there. Perhaps this is why I have anger issues with this story.

[Squid]

The health and well-being of those infants is of paramount importance.  However, the expense to the taxpayers needs to be considered, also.  Each of those infants is costing 100,000 dollars each DAY.  They will be in the hospital for a long, long time.  I want them to get the care they need but think some thought should have been given prior to implantation.  $800,000 per day for months....  It's all just a little irresponsible, if you ask me.  I was watching a doctor on the news last night who said it is a breach of medical ethics to implant more than two! 

If this woman is on public assistance (and she will be if she isn't now), I'm really going to get ticked off.


edited to repair poor grammar.

[arniebear]

My daughter went through fertility treatments, which is a painful process.  The fertility Dr. stated it was something wrong with my daughter after testing her, and her alone. My Mom's heart ached for her, she had several Artificial Inseminations that did not take, and she and her husband separated over this.  Her guilt was very high feeling it was her fault.  They got back together and visited another Dr. other than the fertility who found out it was an infection in her husband which was treated with antibiotics.........a year later my only grandaughter was born.  I am sure there are Fertility Clinics and Doctors who are reputable...........but this one was out to make a buck.

[Mistyeyed]

i havent read the whole story about this woman,but did she really want more children after having six all ready,or did she figure if she had more,thats more money she could milk out of the state...i live in PA and we got enough right here in the city i live in that do it just to get more benefits handed out to them..with the average joe and families trying to struggle through this times now,people that actually work for a living,it just irks me so that the government keeps handing out money to these people..