Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
The world was wowed last month when a California woman, Nadya Suleman, gave birth to octuplets – only the second set ever born alive. This week Kaiser Permanente Hospital, where the premature babies were born, reported the Suleman litter was making good progress. Good for them.
The bank also had an update on the family this week – their house is getting foreclosed on. Not so good for them.
On top of the eight new babies, Suleman has six children already – all under the age of seven. Having such a large gang of children, Suleman clearly has no time to work. The state is now supporting her baby-making frenzy, and taxpayers are not happy.
As a single mother, Suleman decided to have in vitro fertilization using a sperm donor. Her doctors implanted six embryos. The maximum suggested for her age, 33, is two embryos.
Her careless decisions put her children in danger – most multiples are born premature – as well as the doctors who approved it. Eyebrows were raised when it was learned that any doctor in their right mind would go through with this procedure. Now talk of malpractice is on the rise.
Not only was she putting the health of her unborn children in danger, Suleman has also put her six other children in emotional danger. It seems impossible for a single mother to tend to 14 children all at once. Every child should receive equal attention from its parents. These kids are going to have some serious “look-at-me” issues.
Some women would kill for these children. The Center for Disease Control reports 12 percent of women in the U.S. have a hard time getting pregnant or carrying a child to term. That’s 7.3 million women who could be looking for a baby. That’s also 7.3 million women who are potentially ready and capable of giving full attention to a child.
Adoption, fertility treatments and hormones are all expensive. Many women would spend thousands of dollars to have just one baby. Suleman is certainly not sharing the wealth of her fertile womb.
There has been a media backlash against Suleman. Her father denounced her on Oprah, saying she was “unconscionable.” Fertility experts are vocalizing contempt for the Beverly Hills clinic that did the procedure. Angry Americans have written death threats to Suleman. She is now living in an undisclosed location for security purposes.
The Learning Channel won’t even give her a reality show – this coming from a station that airs shows like “John and Kate Plus Eight” and “18 Kids and Counting.”
Giving birth is certainly a natural right and a beautiful gift – but enough is enough. Parents should not be having children if they can’t take care of them. Taxpayers should not be paying for botched in vitro fertilizations. Caring women who would give their all for a child should not have to watch as one selfish woman harvests the child crop.
Rhiannon Sawtelle is features editor for The Maine Campus.
