Going through the news over the last couple of days, I couldn't help but notice the stories in every media outlet of the successful birth of Octuplets in California. To me, there are two amazing parts to this story:
First, it appears that this woman has already had six children and was still choosing to go through fertility treatments. I would have thought that after giving birth to six, that one would begin to think about slowing down the reproductive process, if not stopping it all together.
Second, having already crossed a line that not many would in seeking fertility treatments after six children, this woman has not one, but EIGHT embryos implanted and brings them all to term.
Listen, I love kids as much as the next guy (or so I would suppose), but in a situation like this, I have to say that I have a couple of questions on this one. I would have to question the sanity of the potential parents.
Even if you thought that half of the implanted embyos wouldn't make it, what would possess you to go from six to ten children, let alone fourteen? I would likewise question the ethics and the good sense of the medical practitioner in this case. What would possess this practitioner to do fertility treatments to a mother of six? What would possess you to implant eight embryos when common practice in situations of implantation calls for no more than four?
And while we're at it, who paid for the miracle of all of this modern medical technology? What insurance company in it's right mind would include compensation for any part of this type of fertility treatment? How would a doctor performing such over the top levels of fetal implantation get on any insurance company's approved list. (Please don't even tell me that any part of this is going to be paid for by the California taxpayer, I'm not sure that I'm strong enough to hear it.)
Forgive me for being judgmental. It sometimes seems however, as if there is a more detailed examination of a patient's stability and state of mind for a breast augmentation procedure or sexual reassignment surgery than there is for fertility treatments.
Why is it that doctors would be more concerned about the mental health of a person choosing to change their own bodies, than it would be for a person bringing new life into the world along with its long term commensurate responsibilities? When does our ability to do a thing medically exceed our common sense about the ethics of proceeding with it? When is it time to consider not only whether we can do a thing, but whether we should?
OK, so it turns out that that I had a lot more than a couple of questions on the subject ... so shoot me.
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7 comments:
Tim,
Well, as long as we're being politically incorrect, I have some comments/questions.
32-year old SINGLE mother with 6 kids already...
Where is/ are the father/fathers?
Or, is the de facto daddy Big Gov.
And, as for medical ethics, where does one find a doctor, who despite the prospective (again) mother already having six children and being single, how does a fertility doctor decide to implant 8 embryos, when the “standard” medical practice would limit the number of implants to a maximum of two?
Additionally, what of the state of mind of the prospective mother, again single, and already burdened with six children, but apparently no daddy/daddies?
(Out of the frying pan, but here goes)
I have to wonder (especially in light of a recent family bankruptcy in the picture), was the prospective mother's mental health/stability taken into consideration?
And, by doing the implantation, is this doctor going to somehow be held liable? It would serve him right...
HT,
I have heard various stories about the sperm donor in this case. Everything from your comment about his absence to deployment in Iraq. What we do know is that he doesn't appear to be much in attendance.
As for the rest, I'm afraid that ethics on both a personal and professional (medical) level has taken another serious blow. As to the morality, I don't consider myself fit to judge.
I wonder what our impending national health care will feel about such procedures?
According to the latest news reports on TV and the web, the mother is divorced and lives with her parents. HER father, not the father of the children, is an Iraqi native who plans to return to Iraq as a translator/contractor for government so that he can make the extremely high wages that are commensurate with that job. He said this will help to support his daughter's growing family. They live in a lower middle class home that has 3 bedrooms and toys strewn about the yard. Who do you think was paying for the 6 children up to now? The mother is quite young and reports that she is a college student with a Bachelors in Early Childhood and seeking a Master's in perhaps Psychology. Her oldest of the previous 6 children is 7 yrs. old and the youngest are 2 yr. old twins. She has always dreamed of more children, according to her mother and now she has them. We, as taxpayers, will be paying to raise them for the rest of our lives, while my own children went without dental care and medical insurance because their father refused to meet the demands of our divorce decree and provide that, or regular child support for that matter. I raised my children on my own, without government help. I have to question the ethics of a Dr. who would implant 8 eggs, especially in this situation, and how much psychological testing was done? Instead of Mom seeking a Master's in Psychology, perhaps she should be researching why her life could not be fulfilled without adding to her 6 children, let alone jumping to 14 children. This seems to me a MAJOR stumbling block for this single Mom toward a clean bill of mental health.
Quite frankly, my impression of this MOTHER who I understand is seeking a Master's in Counseling and/or a job as an expert parenting is that she is mentally ill.
Shame on the Doctor and the Clinic, they need to be held accountable in this mess. This whole thing is so sick, it makes me sick to my stomach!
This situation is no longer amazing, nor amusing. It is however, tragic for a bunch of children.
I agree with Judy that someone should be held accountable, but am confused enough now to wonder who that is and what to do.
Update: Grandma reported in an interview today that her daughter had so many children because she was deprived of siblings as an only child. If the parenting skills shown by these two generations of parents are any clue, good thing they only had one child!
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