Woman gives birth to octuplets in California
A woman delivered eight babies – six boys and two girls – at a Kaiser Permanante hospital Monday morning. The babies each weighed between 1 pound and 15 ounces to 3 pounds and four ounces, the physicians said.
From this story in the LA Times, it seems the woman took fertility drugs and chose to carry all eight fertilized eggs to term. That’s certainly her choice, but I’m a little wary of the rah-rah coverage that’s about to begin.
Her doctors — Karen Maples, Harold Henry and Mandhir Gupta — will be hitting the morning show circuit. The parents are bound to get companies sponsoring their diapers, formula and clothing. It seems just a matter of time before the family has its own reality show. But, where’s the discussion about the possible risks to the babies’ lives? The first known set of octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, and one of the babies later died.
I hope all these children will survive and thrive. But, the media coverage tends to shower attention and praise on these extreme births rather than soberly reporting the risks involved.
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. 
That’s a litter. And there’s nothing miraculous about it. Those children will always have serious health problems, thanks to the selfishness of their mother.
Our priorities continue to be seriously screwed up.
I don’t know why you assume they will always have serious health problems, Michelle. Or even why the mother was being selfish. Many people feel that reducing is abortion, so it’s not even an option. Many mothers make worse choices with their single baby, you know, drinking, drugs, no prenatal care, etc. Perhaps you should blame advancement in medicine for multiples. If her prenatal care wasn’t good, she would have probably lost one or more fetuses.
I agree with Michelle, this is a litter, just like animals.
Who’s paying for all this medical care, her insurance ? Then , if so, ultimately, all policy holders will help pay. This is a freak, not nature’s way of doing things. Tie that woman’s tubes!
I hope they are all healthy. I hope mom recovers. I have no doubt that medical science has taken us to very dangerous places, and this is one of them. I’ve gone through fertility treatments, and I would say that any doctor who implanted eight fertilized eggs needs to have his/her license revoked.
Unless she spontaneously conceived eight babies . . .? Even with fertility drugs, that seems unlikely.
I just know that this world has plenty of people in it and too many of those are babies and children with no one to love and care for them. Something, somewhere is out-of-whack.
I have some real issues with all the fertility treatments out there. There’s a reason some people cannot have children and not to be cruel but natural selection has it’s place.
Not to mention all the children out there without homes. I’m sure you could easily find 8 children in need of love and attention.
Valerie, I found your words to be very hurtful. I cannot imagine any mother denying another woman the complete joy of carrying, birthing and raising their own child. I know the anguish and heartbreak of having empty arms all too well and I’d never wish that feeling upon anyone. I guess you would then refuse medical treatment if you were afflicted with some awful disease like cancer–after all, survival of the fittest, right? And by the way, studies have shown that children who are born as a result of ART often have parents who are more committed to their role as parents than other children. I agree eight is a excessive, but as others have said, to reduce a multiple pregnancy is like having an abortion and when you’ve worked so hard to achieve that pregnancy, not many are able to decide which babies get to live and which one(s) do not. This is a shining example of why insurance companies should cover the costs of fertility treatments so they can mandate how many embryos can be TRANSFERRED (implanted means the embryos attach to the uterus, which is what we hope for but isn’t gauranteed) and therefore reduce the number of multiple pregnancies which will lower medical costs. But when couples are having to pay for it out of pocket, you can bet they’ll continue to transfer more embryos to increase their chances of that much desired pregnancy.
this is as bad as a 14 year old having babys just because she can. she is single, jobles & already has 6 children. this is a drain on the rest of us who will have to pay for them. I am descusted in her. how dare she burden us with her selfishness.
this woman is insane, she doesnt have a husband, and lives with her freakin mother. I would hate to be one of her kids. She claims, she had all of them so it would make up for her solitary childhood. BS. isnt there some law that you have to like qualify to do in-vitro, its just wrong. And what if all the kids died, its dangerous to give birth to that many! Women were never meant for that. And dont even get me started on the docter. Put him in jail and get that woman some serious help. She will have to pay for it though when she has 14 teenagers and then has to pay for their collage. I feel bad for the kids, but i hope no one gives her like a book deal or tv show, she doesnt desevre it.