Come On

For the last 10 days I've sat and listened to the news media talk about the woman that gave birth to the octuplets last Monday. I do have to applaud them in that they are not giving her a "hero" look in the news. They are actually questioning not only her intentions but the doctor that did the implant.

First what the crap was that doctor thinking? How can you ethically implant 8 embryos into a SINGLE woman who already has 6 children? Not only did she have 6 other children, but she had them all through IVF, too. I have nothing against single mothers. I have several friends who are/have been single moms. They are great women who have taken great care of their kids. However, the majority of them had their babies during a marriage relationship that broke apart for whatever reasons. I also have watched them struggle to raise those babies alone and with little to no support from the fathers. I have seen their families step in and fill the void.

My next question is how did she afford 7 rounds of IVF? Aaron and I knew that we would draw the line at IVF because it is so expensive. I've heard numbers that range from $9,000 to $30,000 PER implantation. One of the articles I read said she was able to afford it because she had it paid for. Who in their right mind would pay that much money for IVF for someone else? Why would this person do it that many times? Here's the crazy thing...I saw this morning that she is now paying for a spokesperson to speak for her. Again, how is she affording this? Aaron jokingly said she must be a drug dealer. She lives with her parents for crying out loud. A psychiatrist told her mother that she needs to kick her to the curb, but the mother feels to guilty about her daughter's situation to do that. I did read that the mother has told her daughter that she won't be there when she and the 8 babies get home from the hospital. Do I blame her and think that she's a horrible mother/grandmother? NO!! Her daughter made the decision to have IVF done so she should see what it's like to raise 14 children all alone with no extra help including from the state of California.

The mother has been quoted as wondering what she was supposed to do with all her left over embryos...kill/dispose of them. If you believe, as I do, that life begins at conception, then you'd have a hard time answering this question. However, there are several places that you can donate those embryos. You can actually donate them to couples that cannot concieve because of the condition of the woman's eggs. You could donate them to science, where, yes, they may be "killed" but to help with stem cell research that, from what I've heard and read, can save people's lives and improve some people's quality of life.

I'm done with my rant now.