Eight is Enough
Do you remember when you first heard the story of Nadya Suleman, the mother of the octuplets? The first news that we heard was that they thought there were seven babies, and suddenly, mid-delivery, they discovered that there was an eighth baby hiding out in there. Wow, quite a story, right? Women everywhere were shaking their heads and thinking that there was no way in hell that they would ever want to be in a position where they were giving birth to the equivalent of a full litter, especially since multiples tend to be premature and have health problems. How on earth could any one couple take on octuplets?
But then we learned more. There was no couple; she’s a single mom. And this wasn’t a fertility drug mishap where too many eggs fired off at once. This was a deliberate placement of twice as many embryos as recommended for a woman her age (six were placed; two embryos split into twins). In a woman who already had six other young kids, one of whom is autistic. An unemployed woman who lives with her mom. I mean, short of the kids being the spawn of some alien life form, the story could not possibly get any more bizarre.
And while the public turned on her, and the media exposed every strange corner of this woman’s life, one thing echoed in my mind: this is going to ruin reproductive medicine for other women, all because this woman and her wild card doctor went too far.
Tiny fingers.
Over the years, I’ve had several friends who’ve undergone reproductive therapies, ranging from fertility drugs right on through to IVF. When it works, the result is nothing short of a miracle: a beautiful baby when nature alone wouldn’t allow it. But even under the best of circumstances, the process is brutal, gut-wrenching and physically, emotionally and financially draining for the couple involved. I’m worried that going forward, access to reproductive treatments will be limited, possibly taking away one last option from someone who so desperately wants it.
I’m hoping, for the sake of those other women, that the public will be able to distinguish between Suleman and the vast majority of women undergoing treatment. I don’t want to see the reproductive rights of responsible individuals curtailed just because of one woman and one doctor who pushed things too far.
