I was reading the news story about the woman in Los Angeles who recently gave birth to octuplets. I'm in total agreement with several of those who commented on her situation by saying that the act was both "disgusting and selfish." I'm wondering who advised her that this was a good idea and why? I'm also wondering who will be paying for the births of these children and how much of L.A. taxpayers' money will go toward healthcare and living expenses for this family.
According to the news story on Yahoo!, the woman who gave birth is single and lives with her mother. She has a degree, but it wasn't clear whether or not she is actually working or if she intends to now that she has fourteen children to take care of. I'm not saying that the single parenting aspect is a bad idea; I'm simply concerned because I know how hard it is to take care of one child when you're married. I can't imagine having so many as a single parent. Hell, I can't imagine having so many children at all.
You have to wonder at her motivation for electing to have fourteen children through in vitro fertilization. Does this woman really love children or is she looking for her fifteen minutes of fame? There are families out there for whom this type of assisted reproduction makes perfect sense and who would begrudge them the opportunity of having a family if they are willing to go through the process and see it through? But this woman seems to have abused her right to reproduce as well as taking advantage of some loophole in the healthcare system which failed to protect these fourteen children from the psychological, emotional, physical and social ramifications of this woman's gluttonous behavior.
Why are these procedures permitted and in some cases, even encouraged by health care providers when the parent in question is clearly operating out of some motive other than simply wanting to be a mother? Sure, we wouldn't want to say that parents are limited to having one or two children, but shouldn't there be a line somewhere?
Until next time...
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Saturday, January 31, 2009
Should anyone have fourteen children?
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1 comment:
I'm with ya. I think the doctor who facilitated this should have his or her license revoked for a breach of ethics. For any one person to have a family the size of a basketball team is just absurd. Can't imagine what they were thinking.
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