The Octuplet Mama

[AdminAssistant]

Nadya Suleman...a divorced, single woman on disability who had 6 kids via in vitro fertilization...and then decided to have another procedure done. Which resulted in octuplets. Which means she now has 14 kids.

Apparently, all of her kids are being raised by her mother. Suleman injured her back and got some money for that and is on other forms of government support. It's unclear how on earth she was able to afford this many in vitro procedures, and apparently her fertility doctor is now under review for allowing her to undergo the procedure so many times.

I have a problem with this. She's not raising these kids, she doesn't seem to care about them, her parents are the ones providing for them...why is she still having them? I'm not against in vitro or against having a large litter of kidlets if you can provide for them. (I mean, I think the Duggars are nutty, but the kids do seem to be well provided for and relatively happy.) This woman clearly cannot provide for her children, and yet chooses to have more.

Huh? Is anyone else confused by this?

[Sylvia727]

While I agree with you in principle, if she'd had the 14 kids spread out, no one would have noticed at all. All the media controversy is just watching a train wreck.

[AFPheonix]

Having them all at once predisposes them to nasty health problems like cerebral palsy. It's rare to have that many without some having at least some health problems. To date and to my knowledge, there is only one group of septuplets that are all completely healthy. Those aren't good odds.
Her parents went to the trouble of lobbying her normal obstetrician to not do IVF on her, she went to another. That one deserves to get his license pulled. Sorry, there is no reason to to that procedure on a woman who is already on medicaid with 6 kids under the age of 8. None. That was malpractice. This woman is mentally unstable and 14 kids, no father, a grandfather who is back in Iraq to make money, and a pissed off grandmother left to take care and finance the horde is not going to help at all.

[Boozy]

The American infertility industry is completely reckless and is in need of more regulation. I'd think a basic psychiatric evaluation would have caught this one.

Reputable clinics don't usually implant more than two embryos. Disreputable clinics implant up to half a dozen at a time because it boosts their success rates - "success" being measured in live births as a result of IVF. They don't measure the health of the baby/babies, the health of the mother, or the number of fetuses aborted (if the mother chooses to do that in the face of multiples).

[Greenday]

Besides my usual problem with people having so many kids, I think my biggest beef in this case is with the doctor. He should be permanently banned from practicing medicine of any sort. He is clearly a dumbass as there is NO reason to implant that many eggs. With technology at it's current level, implanting more than a couple is unnecessary if everything is physically ok down there.

[DesignFox]

I had a teacher who once said (regarding IVF and other fertility treatments), "Have families, not litters. We are humans, not dogs."

I agree with her. There is NO REASON, whatsoever, for a woman to give birth to an unnatural and unhealthy number of children at once.

I mean, I think people like the Duggars are crazy, but at least they did things naturally and have the means to support their flock.

No one can convince me that popping out 8 babies AT ONE TIME is a good idea for any reason. I don't mean any disrespect to couples who need fertility treatments- I have no real issue with that in and of itself- but keep the numbers NATURAL and HEALTHY.

It really pisses me off that this woman already had 6 kids, is already ON disability, and yet she pops out 8 more. Seriously. The audacity of the whole thing just really frosts me. Those kids should be taken away and put in foster homes, that woman's tubes should be tied, and to hell with giving her any further financial aid.

Actually, scratch that. That fucking doctor who went against all moral and ethical standards and completed the procedure despite the woman having already been denied and her parents already protesting it should have to single handedly support the whole family.

I have nothing nice to say about this situation. I really pity the grandparents and the children. The children had no say in this, and would only suffer without financial support of some kind (obviously their mother can't provide for them- and in this case WON'T even if she could) And the grandparents are between a rock and a hard place. They opposed the whole thing to begin with!

And not for nothing- it is people like THAT that give all people on any sort of aid look terrible.

Like, not for nothing, but if you are disabled and you can't work to support yourself, don't fucking reproduce, (let alone pop out a litter). People like this make people who genuinely need and deserve the aid they receive look bad. And that is the other part of this that bothers the ever loving shit out of me.

Sorry. I've been bottling that up since I read all the articles on CS.

[Cat]

I too, find this situation disgusting, but on the other hand, perhaps she really has a mental illness? Can people be children horders like animal horders? Was she merely doing this for the attention?

Those poor kids.....their lives will not be easy....


(and I really hope I don't offend anyone, but I am not a fan of fertility treatments, but this is a bias of mine since I am adopted. However, I will never tell anyone they can't get treatment, just be safe/smart about it)

[anriana]

I am also confused by why she decided to do this. If she likes being pregnant, wouldn't it make more sense to have lots of children one at a time?


And I'm not for forced sterilization of anyone, even her.

[IDrinkaRum]

I just had a conversation with my husband about this. My husband who is like, "heh .. people can do whatever, I dont' care" actually said this:

1. All children should be taken away from the mother and given to the grandparents.

2. The doctor who did the IVF treatments should be forced to have half of his wages sent to the kids to help raise the kids until their of age ... either 18 or 21, he couldn't decide.

3. The mother should have a psychological evaluation and be given a hysterectomy.

I'm just shocked my husband is so passionate about this.

[Greenday]

I like your husband's #2 situation. But then again, that goes against how I think he should be permanently banned from practicing medicine because he is EXTREMELY incompetent.

[AFPheonix]

I too, find this situation disgusting, but on the other hand, perhaps she really has a mental illness? Can people be children horders like animal horders? Was she merely doing this for the attention?

Those poor kids.....their lives will not be easy....


(and I really hope I don't offend anyone, but I am not a fan of fertility treatments, but this is a bias of mine since I am adopted. However, I will never tell anyone they can't get treatment, just be safe/smart about it)

I almost wonder if it's not a weird version of Munchausen's by proxy, except instead of making her children ill to get attention, she pops out a royal shitton of them for attention instead.
It is almost certainly due to a screw loose, and even more damning for that doc to have even considered doing IVF on her in the first place.

[IDrinkaRum]

Did anyone watch the interview with her last night?

These are some facts I found out:

1. She's going to school & has student loans that are helping to pay her lifestyle at the moment. It's not welfare because she has to pay it back & with welfare, you don't pay it back.

2. Her disability payments have stopped so the only source of income she has are those student loans that she will have to pay off eventually.

3. Two of her other children are Autistic and a third one has a speech delay & some autistic tendencies (which probably means he/she is on the Autism Spectrum, but not necessarily fully fledged Autistic like the other 2 children).

4. Because 2 of her kids are Autistic, she is receiving disability payments for the kids, which she claims are going to end soon. (Which I find unbelievable because I've done some research as my own daughter is Autistic and she is eligible for the SSI and the payments last until at least 18 for children and then they can re-apply if they seriously cannot work .... ever).

5. She wants to move into a bigger house. What is she going to do? Find herself a Sugar Daddy? (Last I checked, Sugar Daddies usually like them much younger and unencumbered by children).

*le sigh* She just ... infuriated me .... And her reasoning about having the kids? She was an only child and she was lonely while growing up. I looked at hubby and said we're going to have to get busy making another baby so Child Rum doesn't feel "lonely" and have 65 babies.

I say the woman is mentally disturbed and needs to be under a doctor's care.

[AdminAssistant]

And, currently, student loans cannot be wiped away with bankruptcy.

sheesh

[IDrinkaRum]

And, currently, student loans cannot be wiped away with bankruptcy.

sheesh

Do you think if they could be wiped away with bankruptcy she'd have tried it by now?

The woman is shocked about how the media and the public see her. But why should she be so shocked? Her 6 at home are NOT happy about the new babies coming home at all. Why should they? Less time with Mommy and mroe crying babies in the house - that barely has enough room for 6 kids, Mommy & Grandma.

[IDrinkaRum]

Update!

Nadya Suleman has created a website

She's asking for donations to help her and her little ones out.