Surely you have heard the news about the mother in California who gave birth to eight babies this past week; she already has six children; they are all under the age of 8. The mother, Nadya Suleman, conceived all of her children by invitro fertilization. She is unemployed and living in a three bedroom home with her parents. There are so many questions about how an educated woman, could allow herself to get in this position of having 14 children with little or no support. Many are questioning the ethics involved in allowing a single woman with 6 children and no job to get invitro fertilization in the first place; let alone, get implanted with 8 embryos.
Part of the conflict is that people are wondering how did she come up with the money for the invitro for any of her pregnancies? That is not cheap…let alone to have it done so many times. Also, it is not normal procedure to implant so many embryos for one pregnancy. Even when 4 or so embryos are implanted…it isn’t expected that all would become viable babies. That is amazing in itself that all 8 would be viable and born.
Now, the woman is living in a home with her parents with only three bedrooms. There are already 6 children in the home. Where will these babies live when they come home? Nadya’s father is a contractor who works overseas and probably wont be around to help and the media has been reporting that Nadya’s mother is threatening to leave the home when her daughter comes home from the hospital. She says that her daughter has been obsessed with having children her whole life; and, at some point received counseling for that obsession.
Nadya’s mother is saying that she is leaving. So, that must be hard for her to even think about…but by staying would that be considered enabling her daughter or supporting her? At this point, the babies are already here…they have been born. The mother says that Nadya is out of embryos so that her obsession will have to end. I think that is a good thing.
The question is…if Nadya truly has an obsession…why wasn’t that dealt with before this latest pregnancy? Will the department of human services get involved to ensure that all 14 children are being cared for properly? Will a social worker be assigned to the family to co-ordinate some kind of system to make sure that everyone is doing what needs to be done to support this family? Who will pay for that since Nadya doesn’t work and her parents have filed for bankruptsy within the last couple of years? The state of California, where she lives, certainly can’t afford to pay for that.
The medical expenses alone for this pregnancy will be astronomical. Babies born prematurely will have huge medical bills from the birth and caregiving alone…not to mention possible life-long disabilities that they could face. I heard, dont know if it is fact, that one of the older children has possible autistic tendencies. That too, would be a big financial concern.
All 14 children were allegedly fathered by the same sperm donor. Does he bare any legal, financial, or moral responsibility? Do you think he knows about the children…or do you think it is an annoymous sperm donor? If he knows about the children…should he be legally forced to help provide physical and financial support?
News programs were speaking today about the possibility of Nadya selling her “story” to Oprah’s show or maybe even Diane Sawyer for ABC news for something like $2million dollars. Do you think that is appropriate or inappropriate?
I at first thought…that is not cool. She should have to work to provide for those children herself. But then, reality set in…child care fees alone would take every penny that she makes; and she would still be a drain to the tax payers. Not to mention…who in their right mind would take the responsibility of providing care for 14 children, all at once? Another thing, if she was working round the clock to provide for them…she wouldn’t have any time to dedicate to the emotional needs of her children. If she can’t make money from her “story” then…she would just be another single mother who supported her children from the money the rest of us tax payers pay in…and that is definately not ok with me.
As much as I dont like the idea of selling her story to the highest bidder…it is the lessor of two evils. I dont think the American public (or California tax payers) should foot the financial or medical bills of that family. Children are a blessing…i do believe in pro-life values. However, this was a definate abuse of the system to create a family. Not the invitro itself…because i think that does provide an avenue for many families who have trouble conceiving children. However, she already had children…she was not supporting them herself. That was already a drain on her family and the tax payers assumably. I do think it was unethical of whatever medical clinic that provided it’s fertility services to her, in her situation.
But, on the other hand, once they did enable her to conceive…I heard that she was offered selective termination of some of the fetuses to offer them a better chance of being born without difficulties. I am glad that she did not terminate any of the babies…because i believe that is murder. It is a terrible no win situation…but , life is life…and whatever she is able to do to legally support those children should be done.
I do think if she is indeed offered a large sum of money…she should be court ordered to repay the tax payers for any support or monies that she/her family has received from the tax payers as no one else had the choice about how many children she chose to bring into the world. I truly would be surprised if some reform or investigation is not performed to question the medical and legal ethics of this situation. What are your thoughts on this story?
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