Because it went so well the last time we let doctors decide which patients should have babies.

[ohinternets.livejournal.com]

I've been really perplexed at the huge uproar over the woman who had octuplets yesterday. The mother is healthy, all eight babies are healthy, the family appears to be functional with plenty of (non government!) support, so what is the problem, exactly?

Apparently CNN questions the ethics of having that many babies at once. Among some of the reasons cited by experts (with obvious biases and agendas) are the usual concerns about the mother's health - which in this individual case, was never a concern - and the risk to babies in multiple births. Amazingly, though every set of triplets I've ever met was perfectly normal in every way, and being the parent of a child with special needs, I resent the implication that a disability might be a good cause to terminate a pregnancy, the scientists in the article advocate partial abortion be considered even in triplets. They do quote one guy who refers to fetal reduction as killing babies, but this is the note on which the article ends, and which is most scary to me:

[Sara] Rosenthal[, bioethicist at the University of Kentucky], on the other hand, questions the woman's capacity to make a good decision under the circumstances. Some neonatologists believe that when pregnant women are told about dangers of prematurity or have great expectations about giving birth, their judgment can be impaired, she said.

The situation raises the issue of whether a doctor ought to override a patient's wishes for the sake of saving lives, she said. Although the health care system in America gives patients autonomy in making decisions about their own bodies, when emotionally distraught, some people decide poorly, she said.

Eugenics v2, anyone? Except a million times worse. She is advocating forced abortions because pregnant women can't make rational decisions. What happened to "the government should stay out of our uteruses" rhetoric that most pro-abortion people advocate? The article ends by saying that women with that many fetuses shouldn't give birth to all of them even if they are all healthy - because it might encourage other women to do it, too.

I'm so beyond horrified right now, you guys.

Comments

[pastygothchick.livejournal.com]

I don't know about this particular doctor, but I worked for a surgeon and every procedure even for a cyst removal requires a consent form. Whether the patient chooses to read it or not is up to the patient. Most of the patients that I dealt with didn't read the consent forms. Most likely the consent form covers the doctor for any "negligence".

From what I understand with this type of procedure they place a number of embryos because often times they don't implant and continue to grow. The cost of these procedures, that are often not covered by insurance, cause the patient wanting to get pregnant as a result. So, the doctors implant more than one embryo.

The article also stated that she was on fertility treatments which can cause multiple births by itself. It's possible that embryos were implanted and due to the fertility treatments she ovulated multiple eggs which were also fertilized which in combination led to the 8 babies. A combination of very rare circumstances that can happen.

[cakemaven.livejournal.com]

I've been through IVF cycles myself and would NEVER agree to more than 3 embryos because of my belief on abortion. The doctors I worked with also would never have trasferred more than 3 embryos because doing so is irresponsible.

The news report I saw said she had IVF. I don't buy the arguement that the procedure's expense is reason to transfer more embryos because raising all those extra babies (not to mention their medical costs if they have developmental issues, and the donated breastmilk they are getting at $3-5/oz) costs a heck of a lot more than another IVF transfer would. If the mother knew she was against reducing the number of babies, she should never have allowed that many embryos to be transferred.

[pastygothchick.livejournal.com]

Her mother told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that the woman had received fertility treatment and that she had embryos implanted last year. from hyperlinked article

Since you stated that you had the option to agree on the number of embryos implanted. Is this a case of an overzealous doctor or a mother who chose not to exercise her rights?

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

I wonder if they were doing both, and the implanted embryos all took and she spat out multiple eggs that were then fertilized and implanted...

[cakemaven.livejournal.com]

doubtful. During the egg collection, they harvest every ovum/follicle. Even if they were working with frozen embryos, the woman's cycle is suppressed and controlled with drugs to ensure optimum conditions for a sucessful transfer.

[cakemaven.livejournal.com]

Other articles I read said it was IVF, even though this one just said "fertility treatment" The mother should have considered the possibility of ending up with so many, but also may have been swayed by a doctor who said "well, they won't *all* stick..." I think both are to blame. Mostly, I feel sorry for the other kids this woman has. How much attention do you think they'll get from their mom with EIGHT babies needing to be fed and diapered around the clock.