Could somebody please explain to me why a doctor would allow a woman with 6 children between the ages of 2 and 7 to undergo the fertility treatments and in-vitro fertilization that resulted in the birth of eight additional children. And why the "father" plans to return to Iraq in the next few weeks voluntarily as a "contract worker"?

Medically, this seems to fly pretty close to the face of "first do no harm."

Because this is America.

Medically, this seems to fly pretty close to the face of "first do no harm."

How so?

The babies and mom are healthy according to everything I've read.

I love the grandfathers response to the media;

Within hours, media had camped out at the family's home in Whittier, where the babies' grandfather pulled up in a minivan in the evening and briefly spoke to The Associated Press. Beside him were two children — a 7-year-old and 6-year-old — who said they were excited to have eight new siblings.

But the grandfather warned that media may have a tougher time finding the family after the babies are released from the hospital.

"We have a huge house, not here," said the man, who would only identify himself as Ed. "You are never going to know where it is.

He basically told them to pack sand! Excellent!

I also like the mothers response to the doctors at Kaiser; Suleman said her daughter had embryos implanted last year, and after finding out she was pregnant with multiple babies was given the option by doctors of selectively reducing the number of embryos. The woman declined.

"What do you suggest she should have done? She refused to have them killed," Suleman told the Times. "That is a very painful thing."

Comments form some doctors include;

Doctors say they advise against higher-order births, but acknowledge the decision is not theirs to make.

"Who am I to say that six is the limit?" said Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, medical director of Fertility Institutes, which has clinics in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York City. "There are people who like to have big families."

Dr. James Grifo, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the NYU School of Medicine, added: "I don't think it's our job to tell them how many babies they're allowed to have. I am not a policeman for reproduction in the United States. My role is to educate patients."

And rightly so.

All the above being said, would I want 14 kids? Nope.

We got one of each model, and quit.

Tdanner, you beat me to the punch! These people are absolutely disgusting and so is the doctor who helped them with fertility. A person with 6 kids should be ineligible for fertility treatment. This entire family is nothing but a burdon to society.

So, do you think they will make the cover of "The National Enquirer"?

Can you imagine sports later on if they all excell in them. You practically have your own baseball team!

If you read all the "comment" sections on this story on the major news websites.... the two main threads are 1)the family are horrible opportunists plotting a reality TV show that would dwarf one that now apparently features a family of 10 and 2)medical people coming forward to comment that no ethical or credible fertility clinic would have ever permitted this.

A person with 6 kids should be ineligible for fertility treatment...

Welcome to China.

If they can love, nurture and support the kids they they can have as many as they want. Remember, this is America, Land of the Free.

What about the lady who just had her 18th kid back in December?

The only difference is she had them 1 or 2 at a time.

...1)the family are horrible opportunists plotting a reality TV show that would dwarf one that now apparently features a family of 10...

Just asking, because I haven't read any of the boards on this, is there proof of them wanting to do this or just speculation?

I'd guess by the grandfathers response above that it is just speculation, but I don't know.

The new show will be called "Eight Is Not Enough"!

If your neighbor had 14 cats, 14 dogs, 14 parakeets, 14 ferrets, 14 horses, or 14 bunnies, they would have to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that the animals were being properly cared for, sheltered and fed. If not, it would be abuse plain and simple.

When somebody has a bitch with 14 puppies, they get labeled a "puppy mill" and logical questions are asked by the proper authorities. When a housewife has 14 babies, we are all supposed to stumble over ourselves with words like "miracle" and "joy" and celebrate that fact?

My brother and I were blessed with parents that gave us all the love we needed. At the very least, we could count on 50% of their time and attention. I think that a minimum 7.14% share of love and devotion is a criminally small portion to ration out or rationalize. I feel pity for these youngsters.

Skybill wrote:
Because this is America.

Yeah, where people like you want more of this, but when it comes to taking care of them, you're no where to be seen.

Yeah, where people like you want more of this, but when it comes to taking care of them, you're no where to be seen.

I never said I wanted more of this. Don't make statements that are not true.

I do however, support her right to have as many children as she wants as long as she can take care of them. Which some on this board don't appear to support.

Why would I (or you) have to take care of them? That's what the parents are for.

How do you feel about what I said above about the lady who just gave birth to her 18th child in December? Are 18 kids OK just because she didn't use fertility drugs?

Her husband said on TV that they might not be done at 18.

Maybe forced abortion if she gets pregnant again, or maybe forced sterilization before she has a chance to get knocked up again?

This is their choice and right to do.

It's none of yours, mine or any body's business how many children they have.

The lady who gave birth to her 18th child should not be allowed to do this, and should not be celebrated. She should be recongized as the terrible person she is. They should pay more taxes for each kid over 6 in a family.

No family can take care of 14 kids, or 18 kids, properly.

Each of those new children should be adopted out to have a stronger family setting. If the mother really loves them she would do so.

Each of those new children should be adopted out to have a stronger family setting. If the mother really loves them she would do so.

Yippee! Box of kittens day at the office! Free puppies listing on Craigslist! Pack 'em in a box, toss in some Cheerios, cut a few air holes and ship 'em overnight to a hospital in Nebraska!

Uh-oh, I think the poor urchins were adopted by a restaurant...

You know, they could always build a larger extended family.

Raising kids does not happen in a vacuum. As much as I agree with Littlesongs about large being too large, I have to say I also wonder if a large family can't form a very potent small community.

As that family grows stronger, and older, perhaps it will make a very nice impact on the neighborhood. I don't think we know! I do know thoughts like that should be on the table.

I do strongly disagree about "should be" adopted out. Family is family. Denying this just isn't cool on a whole lot of levels.

What these parents have is a big burden. Perhaps that tax will end up being in the form of a lot less of their adult time being theirs. If they are up to it, I'll bet their family does well. Maybe their golden years will truly be golden as the oldest are there to help with the youngest.

Don't know.

All I do know is anything is possible. Up to them more than anything else.

Edit: This was a bad call. I think it's gonna be brutal for them, or the kids will suffer, or likely both! All depends on what strength they have as people. Might not have enough, and that's the worry all around.

Just thought I would add that. I don't condone it, wouldn't do it, but it's done, so I wish them the best.

>>What these parents have is a big burden.

Heard were talkin single mother here (that had the octuplets) living at home with her parents...not enough support for what's coming.

I am biased. I do not want to purposefully reproduce. Ever.

I like other people's kids. My nieces and nephews and close friends all have children of various ages from early twenties to toddlers.

If thinking from a purely Darwinian perspective, my genetics should have been taken out of the picture when I was 9 and got diabetes. That should have killed me had I been born a mere 50 years earlier.

Also, I know that my abilities to be a good father would be a strain both on myself and said child. (I know I would turn into my father and no child deserves that.)

So, the fact that this bimbo decided to pork out 8 at the same time, it disgusts me. Celebrating normal fertility is fine. Heck even twins is "common" naturally. But medicinally induced super pregnancies are irresponsible in my opinion.

Last night the network news (NBC?) said that the average hospital costs of multiple low weight births is as least $400,000 per child. And that is in cases of much lower multiples. Does anyone REALLY think this family had the 2-3 million dollars the hospital bill at Kaiser is going to run for just this first month?

Does anyone REALLY believe that this mother and her 14 children are not going to rely heavily on the State of California for major financial assistance for the next 20 years?

Does anyone REALLY believe that all 8 infants were born healthy and without major medical complications that will require a lifetime of expensive publicly funded care?

[And one of the Kaiser doctors interviewed on the news stated that the mother showed up for the first time when she was already a month pregnant and absolutely refused to discuss who or where the fertility treatments had been done.]

>>where the fertility treatments had been done

the real mistake was the fertility clinic who performed the procedure on her...this is expensive and she had/has very little money so how did this happen...put it on her Visa?

It's morbid for sure Moman. Disgusting.

And Tdanner, absolutely she will be a burden. It's a major league nightmare, and not a cause for "joy" of any kind.

Didn't realize there was no father in the picture!

With no father in the scene, there isn't gonna be an extended family, and those comments don't apply.

Not like she's available to marry right now either!

---> I like other people's kids too Moman.

If you go back a century or so, it was common to have around 20 children. For one thing, they were playing the odds and only some of them would make it through childhood. I think my grandmother(60 years older than I)was one of 21 children and remarkably(for the time), they all became adults.

LOS ANGELES - The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week conceived all 14 of her children through in vitro fertilization, is not married and has been obsessed with having children since she was a teenager, her mother said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28948599/

>>obsessed with having children

well welcome to the human race. Don't these vitro fert people do some sort of intact family screening? Again, these kids need help.

Semoochie - it wasn't remotely "common to have "around 20 children." A quick google shows that the aveage # of children per family in 1900 was 3.5!!! The aveage in 1900 was 7. The average from 1650-1750 was 9 ... but they note that only 60% of those children survived to age 20.

You're grandmother was part of a rare group.

TD is absolutely correct.

I'm glad that there is a backlash on this. it's sickening.

"Ethical and Responsible" professionals in the fertility field are asking for her doctor's head on a platter. Implanting 8 embryos is unheard of.
A single mom in a 2 or 3 bedroom house with 6 kids under 7, with at least one who's autistic?

I also saw that "AT LEAST $400,000 PER child in hospital costs" for that low of birthweight. That's just insane.

How many women with REAL fertility problems could've been helped with that amount of money. And we are all perfectly happy to just get one baby.

I wonder how much she'll get paid for the first big cover story? I'm sure she's holding out for the biggest pay-out possible.

>>How many women with REAL fertility problems could've been helped with that amount of money. And we are all perfectly happy to just get one baby

Spot on Mrs M.

So Cali has a budget crises and will probably have to pony up for the bills.... What if they just say no to the care and feeding of the octopuslets and the rest of the kids? Maybe the state should just refer her to local churches in her area for assistance. Tax payers shouldn't have to foot the bill for this womans choice. She chose to have 14 kids. Now SHE needs to pay for them without reliance on the generosity of the state. If she can't afford them, I guess Adoption would have to become an option.

Then of course maybe she is an E-BAY SUPERSELLER and has enough income to support the whole litter
on her own. She is not a heartwarming story and I would be surprised to see an outpouring of corporate support for diapers, carseats, and formula as often happens in notable multibirth stories............

Well, she could start selling "baby bloopers" DVDs. She's got no shortage of "footage" available to her!

OK. Now that more details have come out about this, I'll admit I was wrong about her.

I still support a husband and wife's right to have as many children as they want, but this woman is whacked in the head (apparently) and is a baby machine for all the WRONG reasons.

Octuplets' Mom Wants $2 Million From Oprah, Media Deals

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,486645,00.html

I'll go on Oprah for 50 bucks and count to 8 in 8 different languages..... that's a savings of almost two million over the human puppy mill.

I expect that Child Protective Services is going to keep a really close watch over this happy bunch. The mom is clearly a narcissist, and it sickens me how she puts the gratification of her ego over the welfare of the children and happily puts herself in a situation whose expenses I doubt that she, her husband or her family can cover. However, I am a bit uncertain regarding what the appropriate course of action should have been for the physicians involved.

The kids should be put up for adoption and the mother should be thrown into a mental institutuion.

Nightmare scenario (made for TV movie) --

It has now been widely reported that the wacko-mom worked in a fertility clinic. Maybe DNA testing will show that none of the fertilized embryos were hers to begin with... or that the sperm was used without permission. The legal possibilities of stolen embryos or eggs fertilized without consent and brought to term without permission is enough to make Nancy Grace's head explode live in prime time.

We can hope.

That's a tough deal too. They are a sibling group. A big one, but still...

Breaking them up is harmful. Maybe it's the lower level of harm, but it's just not as easy as that.

Doesn't Nancy Grace's head explode each episode?

The latest news says she's already received book and TV deals.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28984255/

And I continue to get more disgusted at this.

Wow, how quickly they fall!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29002731/?gt1=43001

Women who give birth to six, seven or eight babies are often showered with dazzling gifts from big corporations, local businesses and strangers. But that is not happening with the Southern California mother who delivered octuplets last week.

The news that she is a single mother with six other children — and that all 14 were conceived by having embryos implanted — seems to have turned off many people, and companies are not exactly rushing to get publicity by piling on the freebies.

I'D LEAVE THE COUNTRY TOO. THINK OF THE CHILD SUPPORT LOL.

but as she says, she believes that she can afford them once she gets her masters degree in counseling.....

(or that book/film deal)

Counseling HA HA HA HA !!!!! She might want to be her first client!

My wife heard that the mother wants to breast feed them all...she would'nt have anytime to sleep!

She is a head job, and rightly, or wrongly, fair or not, Without the BIG DEAL for her nut job "non Traditional" family story, THE TAXPAYERS will be on the hook for the startup and maintenance costs of The MOM TEAM INC.... maybe she can perform "Community service" for the state to cover any monies they pony up... 6 hours a day mopping the courthouse floors, painting curbs and parking meters, trash pick up.....She can do her part if not, well distasteful as it might be, maybe the kids can go up for adoption. ALL OF THEM!

If there was ever a case for FORCED STERILZATION this woman is the poster child.

Go after the clinic/doctor who did the implantation...let them support the eight for life!

When the mother was released from the hospital, her first visit wasn’t home to see her other children. It was to do a sit down interview with NBC’s Today Show. Plus it’s been disclosed that she’s on disability, but has given almost none of these earnings to her parents who house and support her children.

NBC News needs to spend some time interviewing her parents; they are the ones who take care of her kids.

If anyone in this mess deserves help, it's the grandparents.

The hits just keep coming:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29110391/

"Nadya Suleman, the mother of the octuplets born last month, gets $490 a month in food stamps, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday evening. Three of her first children also get federal supplemental security income because they are disabled, the Times reported.

Suleman told NBC News correspondent Ann Curry in an interview that she was not receiving welfare. Furtney said Suleman didn't consider the food stamps and SSI to be welfare."

Where I'm from, when you're getting money from some other source outside of your own income, it's called welfare. The only difference is who's providing it. And in this case, it's the taxpayer. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting on so many levels...

The Doctor has been announced...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490269,00.html

Octuplet mom: I’ll use student loans to raise my kids.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29117041/

"The California woman who gave birth to octuplets has no income and intends to use student loans to care for them and her other six children at home, all under the age of 8.

“Do you have any income at all?” TODAY’s Ann Curry asked Nadya Suleman during her exclusive interview with the 33-year-old mother of 14 children.

“At the moment, no,” Suleman replied, adding that she intended to use student loans “temporarily” to pay for her family’s care.

NBC chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman has estimated that the cost of delivering the octuplets and keeping them in neonatal intensive care until they are ready to leave the hospital will be $1.5 million to $3 million. The Los Angeles Times has reported that Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, where the babies will remain for several weeks, has asked California’s medical insurance program, Medi-Cal, to pay the tab."

This crackpot lady is a DRAIN on the taxpayers.

Here we have a state that is literally about to collapse financially, some $30 billion of a budget shortfall, and we have this lady bilking it for $3 million, to have her precious family.

Wow ... stupid people shouldn't breed.

I want to know how she can afford a spokesperson? Does she pay him in food stamps?

Wow ... stupid people shouldn't breed.

I don't think an entire nation of Democrats is a good idea.

Skeptical, the woman isn't necessarily stupid. But she may have a recognizable mental illness I have read about -- but can't recall its psychological name.

This is a multiparous woman (describing many pregnancies) who has a fixation on having more and more children. As I recall, it is similar to obsessive/compulsive disorder.

Many young women who are emotionally fragile from childhood seek love from the next generation which they themselves wish to produce. I believe one of our daughters was in this category. Her mother died when she was 11, and because despite all of our discussions about contraception and birth, she got pregnant in college, then graduated and married the father in June 1985. She delivered a daughter in October 1985, and two more children later in her life. Regrettably, she is estranged from her father and me, although we tried very hard to avert that calamity for decades.

As for the superreligious mothers who believe they are following God's will, I don't want to judge them at all. I had two biological children, and inherited three stepchildren by marriage. We raised five kids and that was certainly MORE THAN enough for me and my husband of 36 years.

Cordially,

Ellen Kimball
Portland, OR

http://ellenkimball.blogspot.com

She is going to be on KGW tonight at 10:00 PM on Dateline NBC.

Should be interesting.

Skeptical, the woman isn't necessarily stupid. But she may have a recognizable mental illness I have read about -- but can't recall its psychological name.

Someone else made the original comment, not me, but yes, I agree with you. A reasonable person would have not made this decision. Something is up with her.

and yet, she is sucking in hapless media programming to pay her for interviews. Am hoping this 15 minutes o' notariety (not fame) burns out quickly.

But hey what can you do? We need some erratic celebrity behavior to knock her out of the spotlight....

But Roger! She has 14 mouths to feed, she's gonna stretch that 15 minutes out as long as she can!

Can you imagine taking a family that size to Disneyland for a vacation? You'd need a third mortgage to pay for it. The second mortgage is for the supply of pampers she will be needing.

Keep in mind, this maternal monster has retained the Killeen Furtney Group to handle her publicity. Previous KFG "crisis management" clients have included Exxon after the Valdez disaster and Union Pacific after a number of fatal train accidents. They are master spin-doctors. After rebuilding her face from a catalog and turning her body into a puppy mill, Ms. Suleman firmly believes that hiring "a team of doctors" on our dime can still solve all of her problems.

Do any of the more pious folks around here believe that God made her barren for a reason? Does it make sense that she has used technology to tamper with his "plan" for her future? Shouldn't quality of life be valued over quantity of lives? Not to be coy, I am just wondering how you can advocate enforced motherhood and still justify this kind of person making cannonballs in the gene pool. Personally, I think that a wingnut who cannot bear children is a blessing, not a curse.

It just keeps getting better!

Octuplets' Mother Reportedly in Market for Million-Dollar Home

Nadya Suleman, the California mother caught in a media frenzy after giving birth to octuplets, reportedly is looking to buy a home listed for more than a million dollars — news that follows on the heels of reports that her current home is facing foreclosure.

The latest report comes from TMZ, which cited an unnamed source at Century 21 as saying Suleman has shown interest in buying $1.24 million home in Whittier, Calif. The house has four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a pool.

Property records show the house where Suleman lives is under the threat of foreclosure.

Los Angeles County property records show a notice of mortgage default was recorded Feb. 9 against the Whittier home owned by Angela Suleman, the mother of Nadya Suleman.

Nadya Suleman has lived in the home with her six previous children.

The default notice shows Angela Suleman is $23,225 behind in her mortgage payments and the three-bedroom house could be sold at auction beginning May 5.

Angela Suleman's phone has been disconnected and she could not be immediately reached for comment.

That criticism intensified when it was learned she already had six children, ages 2 to 7, that she was collecting disability checks for three of them and that they all were living with the grandmother.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

And this:

Littlesongs wrote: Keep in mind, this maternal monster has retained the Killeen Furtney Group to handle her publicity.

PR Firm Drops 'Octomom' Amid Death Threats, Others Not Interested

LOS ANGELES — Ambassador Agency Inc. president Wes Yoder released a statement contradicting remarks by a public relations firm that his Franklin, Tennessee,-based company was representing Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets in January.

He said his company had provided pro bono advice on licensing Suleman family photographs and looked into the possibility of representing them, but decided against it.

PHOTOS: Click here to see pictures of the octuplets.

"Ambassador has not executed a representation agreement, nor do we intend to do so," Yoder said.

Killeen Furtney Group's president, Joann Killeen, said Saturday that her Los Angeles-based company was stepping down as Suleman's publicist because of death threats. Killeen said Nadya Suleman told her Yoder signed on as Suleman's agent.

The Killeen Furtney Group's answering machine message continued to direct callers to Yoder's firm on Monday. A message could not be left for Killeen, as her voice-mail box was full.

Yoder's company, which bills itself as the oldest Christian-based talent agency in the United States, arranged book and music deals for the McCaughey septuplets a decade ago and has provided publicity for famed pastor Rick Warren.

Hope she has cash as she will not be able to obtain any sort of financing with a foreclosure notice recorded against her.

Death threats are totally unacceptable. They are far worse than her "clown car vagina" -- as one of my favorite ex-pats from CNN quipped. This shows just how unhinged people are both in and around this story. Meanwhile, it just keeps getting stranger, stranger and stranger.