This is just wrong

When I see couples who, through the use of fertility drugs, have six or seven children in one fell swoop, my first thought is generally, “Damn, if that were me, I’d be looking for a rope and a strong beam in the basement.” But, hey, if those couples have the patience and resources to handle it, more power to them. However, the recent story about the woman in Southern California who gave birth to octuplets provoked an entirely different emotion in me: anger. It turns out that Nadya Suleman, who already had six children through in vitro fertilization, had some “leftover” embryos implanted in her womb last year and delivered the octuplets a week ago. The initial “wow factor” of the births quickly wore off when details about Suleman emerged. Her own mother painted a picture of someone who is a little unhinged, noting that her daughter is not married and has been obsessed with having kids since her teenage years. Angela Suleman is taking care of her daughter’s six older children for now, but she says she’s bailing out when her daughter gets out of the hospital. Nadya Suleman is 33 years old and has no visible means of support, as best as I can tell. I heard that medical treatment for the octuplets will run upwards of $1 million. Wonder who’s paying for that? Also, one of her previous children is autistic. Does a person who has a special-needs child who requires lots of attention really need eight more kids to occupy her time? After reading about this woman, my guess is that she suffers from some variety of mental illness. An acquaintance said Suleman told her that she was being paid for going through the in vitro treatments that produced her first six children. Gee, no ethical concerns there. And what sort of medical people would implant more embryos in this woman, given her background and a grip on reality that clearly is tenuous? These doctors and/or technicians are borderline criminals. Two investigations are in order: one to determine whether Suleman’s children are being properly cared for and another to decide whether someone should lose his or her medical license over this mess.