Mother of octuplets already had 6 kids, lives with parents
Sometimes it takes a story like this, a story that makes you shake your head in disgust, to crystallize how wrong something has gone.
Turns out, the newest mother of octuplets in California, Angela Suleman, already has SIX children. According to this story from the AP, several are under the age of seven. The family hasn’t said much, but it appears Ms. Suleman could also be single mother. CNN is reporting that her husband is in Iraq. Suleman’s father says she had the multiple embryos implanted last year.
Something is obviously not right here. Fertility treatments are supposed to help those families who are unable to have children. Mothers who have their hands full raising six little ones should not be getting litters of embryos implanted in them. The doctors have washed their hands of any accountability here:
“Who am I to say that six is the limit?” said Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, medical director of Fertility Institutes, which has clinics in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York City. “There are people who like to have big families.”
Dr. James Grifo, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the NYU School of Medicine, added: “I don’t think it’s our job to tell them how many babies they’re allowed to have. I am not a policeman for reproduction in the United States. My role is to educate patients.”
No, docs, it is not your job to be a policeman for reproduction, but who is looking out for the fragile, premature babies — the ones who could die or be left with life-long health problems?
This is the height of selfishness and abdication of parental responsibility. The doctor who implanted a woman with six young children with all those embryos should be charged for all the medical care the tax payers will foot in this case. Instead of showering this woman with free diapers and formula, social services should keep a close eye on the health and welfare of a these 14 children.
Expect to see many more freakshows like this and others as doctors and women without a conscience race to push the envelope. Who will be the first to have a dozen teeny babies? Who will be the first 90-year-old to give birth? Have we become completely immune to how unnatural these stories are?
This is medical technology gone bad, very bad.
Aisha covered education and breaking news for nearly ten years before joining the Lifestyle staff where she writes a "Dirty Laundry" parenting column. She is the home and family editor and wastes too much time on Facebook and political blogs. 
Personally I think this lady is crazy, I am happy with just the one I have.
However if you have the ability, funds, and resources to take care of all of those kids, and you want to, go for it.
It doesn’t sound like she does, and it doesn’t sound like she needed help getting pregnant. Why on earth would you want more kids when you already have six kids at home. Not just six kids but 6 young kids, who all already need your time and attention, and there is only so much of that one person can spread around.
I am curious how she paid for it, I thought this was an expensive procedure?
Good question, Rachel. And furthermore, there are such strict rules and guidelines regarding who is allowed to adopt a baby. Your finances, your health, your mental stability are all closely examined! But, any Jane Doe off the street can get a dozen embryos implanted in her womb? Jeez.
How can this be healthy for any woman? I don’t think human beings are built to deliver “litters” of children…
As a mother myself I was shocked to learn she had other children. Don’t get me wrong if people can’t have children there are great ways to achieve their dream. However in the state of the economy right now, many people are struggling to survive and can’t get help so does this woman have income to support these babies? I just would like to know what was the reasoning behind this whole situation.
No mention of a Father? This story goes against all laws of nature,all common sence is lost.I’m wondering what the is maximum of implants one can have implanted ? If say you inplant say 10 embroys and only 4 survive isn’t that sort of like killing 6 babies? So many people rail agaist abortion feeling as it is agaist Gods plan well so is this!!I give her credit for carrying all eight babies I just wonder how many may have not made it.What really blows my mind is this woman had no one close to her who could talk some sence to her,this is a very selfish woman.
Nothing, nothing, NOTHING makes this OK. Apparently, from other stories I’ve seen, she is married but her husband is in/on his way to Iraq, which is why she lives with her folks. Fine. And I am, usually, a firm believer in live-and-let-live. When I first read about the birth of the octuplets, though, I was appalled that any doctor would implant that many embryos during fertility treatments. Of couse more than one embryo is typically implanted to raise the chances of a viable pregnancy, but most reputable doctors limit the number they implant, as they should, if for no other reason than to protect the mother.
I respect her beliefs and her choice not to elect for selective reduction, although I don’t agree. Even so, I was glad that, given the circumstances, everyone seemed (relatively) healthy.
That was all before I learned of her other children. The fact that she already had six children absolutely appalls me. That SHE was selfish enough - yes, here I am, being entirely judgmental - to use medical technology (likely paid for by insurance) to up her natural odds of having children AND multiples when she already had SIX is beyond my comprehension. Truly.
I understand wanting a large family - fine. But has good sense completely left our culture????? And good grief, particularly in this day and age, six children IS a large family!! Of course she didn’t “expect” eight more when she underwent the treatments, but to undergo fertility treatments for even a seventh???? With two-year-old twins at home???
Don’t want to adopt? Bummer, but fine by me - I’m an adoptive mom, and I know it’s not for everyone. But manipulating nature for MORE than six kids? Really? Give me a break!
More so than even her selfishness, the doctors involved should be called into ethical question. What doctor, in good conscience, would willingly participate in fertility treatments on a woman who has successfully borne and delivered six previous children who are all still living and healthy?????? I can see absolutely no defense for this. No, it is not the doctor’s place to determine how many children a couple should have. True enough. And yes, we live in a country where people are certainly free to have as many kids as they want. And should she continue to give birth naturally, well, so be it. But to agree to medically intervene in this case? The doctors here were as greedy and selfish as the mother - and they should all be ashamed of themselves.
Of course now that the little ones are here, no one is going to suggest that they shouldn’t be. They are all precious, all gifts from God, yada, yada, yada. Of course. I wouldn’t advocate letting any of them die now. None of that, however, makes this acceptable as a medical, or parental, decision. And to those who say that it is this woman’s life, so we should respect her choice, no, it is not just her life. It is the (many) lives of her children - and she put them all at risk.
I remain utterly appalled.
I wonder if this woman was influenced by the reality television show, “Jon and Kate Plus 8″. Maybe she was thinking that she, too, could land her own reality series and gain fame, income, and the other perks that go along with it.
You hear all these stories about these families who have tons of kids at one time, getting free houses and all kinds of free stuff. I think people like this woman are in it for the stuff, for the monetary value. And the more that people like her are given the more you will see people doing this. She should be ashamed!
Journalism technology gone bad, very bad.
You said: “The doctor who implanted a woman with six young children with all those embryos should be charged for all the medical care the tax payers will foot in this case.”
Aren’t you jumping to conclusions? How do you know what the “tax payers” are paying?
I certainly have questions about why this woman wanted so many children or how she was able to pay for the expensive procedure, but instead of jumping to conclusions and making judgements under the theory that its okay to judge because of what the “tax payers” will face, you have cheapened a very legitimate argument regarding the medical ethics of fertility specialists.
human clown car.