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Dr Shapiro completed his undergraduate education at UC San Diego earning a B S in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a B A in Political Science He furthered his education at UCLA where he earned a Masters Degree in Public…
FAST FACTS
As I am sure the news of the birth of the octuplets has now travelled the world once, twice, if not eight times since earlier this week, I sit here contemplating how we, as a society, have arrived at this point. I mean, how is it that there is a 1 in 55,000,000 chance just to have quintuplets (5 babies), and now just 30 miles from where I practice, a mother has delivered 8 babies...all seemingly doing quite well? Is there some ethical boundary being ignored here when this happens? Is science being dangerously manipulated? Or should we just consider this a true blessing and move on?
Now please realize in my own practice I care for 4 sets of triplets and too many twins to count...many of which are products of assisted pregnancies. And I am privileged to see so many amazing and wonderful parents who would not have been given the opportunity to have children without the medical advances of these recent years. But again, my thoughts return to the simple notion that something may be wrong when we prove the chance of having octuplets does not have to be zero?
And so after the initial wave of applause and amazement, the growing sentiment surrounding the birth of these octuplets appears to be both more skeptical and realistic...something I am hearing from my friends, family, pediatric and even Daily Strength colleagues (please see Cyndi's blog http://dailystrength.org/blog/394-news-octuplets for her thoughts). Now I'm sure most of us have seen at least one television show featuring a family with higher-order multiples and noted the logistics of caring for numerous children of the same age is simply mind-boggling with healthy children. But imagine how everything increases exponentially when there are developmental delays, cerebral palsy, and other body organ-specific medical problems...all with an increased likelihood in premature infants.
Now many of you may already know in recent years there has been a greater amount of pressure placed upon the fertility community from both internal organizations (the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) and external forces to decrease the larger number multiple gestations which I do believe many in the community have complied with. And although we do not have all the information surrounding how this pregnancy came to be, one must assume both the doctors and the mother knew the potential outcome at the early stages of the pregnancy and options were more than likely provided but this then raises another possible ethical quandary...how do you ask a mother to selectively reduce the number of embryos in a pregnancy if this counters her own ethical and moral standards?
But whatever the case may be, here we are, with what appear to be 8 healthy premature infants and the whole world watching. So as I realize the hardship and difficulty of raising these 8 will be overwhelming...particularly in light of this new information that there are 6 older children at home, I hope this furthers our discussion as a society to develop more detailed, rigid, and ethical guidelines in assisted pregnancies.
And on a personal note, I leave you all with this...the pediatrician in me would be honored to care for these children.
Dr. Jeremy
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She gets food stamps. She has no job. She lives with her parents. She has no significant other to help her raise her children. She sought out IVF when she already had six children under eight years of age.
She is now seeking online donations. "the "proud mother of 14" accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and PayPal."
Seriously.
This woman is insane and horrific. Ever hear of those people that get headlines for having a houseful of cats or dogs that they can't care for? That's called hoarding.
I don't even KNOW what this is called.
Sad, is what it is. This woman should get no support from outside funds for this. At least that's what the majority of my rationale says. But then what about the children?
Should doctors or the government tell us how many children we should have?
No.
Should a person be held financially and emotionally and physically responsible for the children they bring into the world?
YES- each and everyone of them
Should welfare, food stamps, Medical be available for those who are facing hardtimes?
Yes- with a limit
Should Medical, food stamps or welfare pay for a person to make selfish and irresponsible choices?
NO
Society needs to stand up right now and say "we are not going to give you any freebies- no free diapers, formula, car seats, blankets, cribs, customized car or larger home. NOTHING"
WE SHOULD NOT SUPPORT PEOPLE PUTTING THEIR OWN SELFISH NEEDS ABOVE THE REALISTIC NEEDS OF A CHILD.
This women set out to enlarge her family, what did she say- why should a married couple be able to have more children if it feels right and not me?- paraphrasing of course.
I don't care if you are married or not- YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE CHILDREN YOU CAN NOT PROVIDE FOR.
A lot of people can love a child unconditionally, but love doesn't feed that baby or clothe that baby or put a roof over a baby's head. A truely loving parent sacrifices their own desires in the best interest of their children- she should have stopped at 6 (if not before).
I know single moms who work their butt off to provide for their children and stretch themselves thin to give each of their children the time and attention they deserve- it is exhausting and draining and stressful. This woman put herself in this position on purpose to fulfill an obsessive need to feel loved-
What do we tell 16year olds who want a baby for unconditional love? We tell them that will not give them what they need most- to love themselves.
The unfortunate truth is people are going to give money, material things and their own time to this woman on behalf of her children. Her children will not get the experience of truely bonding with parents. They will be forever hindered from her choices. She will get her fix from all this attention for a while- but eventually the high she is feeling will wear off and she is going to need to do something else.
In the meantime the single moms who did not choose to be single moms will continue to struggle and be denied the assistance they need because they want to provide for their own child and earn some money, married couples who are facing hard times will continue to have to limit the number of children they have to one or two because they are denied almost all assistance just based on the fact they are married, and the rest of the working middle class will continue to struggle to balance time and money and still have to limit the number of children they have to one or two, three tops.
BUT not this woman- she is special, she should be able to have all the children she wants.
Society needs to take a stand because this is wrong!!!!!!
I am in Australia and i have fertility issues. I have five living children, 4 of them are from a previous relationship and one is from my relationship with my husband. We are desperate to have at least two more children together and have found that some Doctors take it upon themselves to decide how many children a couple should have. My husband only has the one child we have together. I don't understand why when you have fertility issues you have to beg to have the amount of children you want, but if you don't have fertility issues, you can just have as many as you want without anybody's permission. It's just plain wrong. Let the parents decide how many children they can provide for both emotionally and financially. My heart is breaking from Doctor's not understanding my situation and having a personal opinion on how many children is too much. 8 embryos is probably too many to implant at once as it obviously greatly increases the chances of pre-term births, but it is really not for other people to judge. The parents of those babies have to live with the situation and if they are happy with that then that's ok. It might not be for everybody, but it might be right for them. Doctors can be wrong and that is why a second, third, etc... opinion is always a good idea. Why judge these people if they are happy and are going to love these babies unconditionally.
I'm in Australia and know that we pioneered some IVF processes. The state of Victoria produced 3 sets of triplets in a matter of months - from very multiple implantations. Luckily, they were all first pregnancies, and the mothers were essentially happy - if not a bit overwhelmed (a normal response). However the State Govt. introduced aBill, and it Passed through Parliament, to limit the number of implantations of embryos to three. A few years later, quadruplets were born in Western Australia. This story (I mean the personal details of family, etc) were hushed up: the mother chose to keep only one of the babies - there was a feeling that it was not her first pregnancy, and only one was , obviously, hope for. We heard nothing further. However, the Govt of W.A. passed a law similar to that of the state of Victoria - 3 embryos at one time only. I believe a third State passed a similar law.
I'm a Pensioner - so buy only the Monday newspaper -for the Television guide: it's not what we call a "rag" (ie sensationalist). But there were questions - similar to those you yourself have asked: and there was an added twist: the mother already has 6 children - her mother is taking care of them during her stay in hospital, but is not happy with this situation. She believes (if the paper is to be believed) that her daughter has an obsession with having babies. I just cannot understand where she could find a Doctor, or Clinic, willing to allow her to have IVF, or any form of assisted pregnancy - and I wonder about the IQ of this woman - I have 3 children, from 7 pregnancies: after 2, I had 2 early miscarriages, and a interuterine death - then, finally a longed for 2nd livebith - but 2 are a handful - especially with an 11 year gap between; Then I got pregnant after surgery - I forgot to add the Contraceptive Pill to my meds (all 2 of them) to be taken! - in my late 30's I had another, a pregnancy with complications: before, during & after. It was an exhausiting business. My husband was almost no help - he was establishing himself in a new profession (& his father had believed "real men" didn't do much - though he was competent to do, coming from a family of 8 children
Another problem (again, if the newspaper is accurate): she is a single Mum. Her own mother is no happy about this. How can she possibly look after a soccer team of babies? Even if she gets the offer of help from people on a roster basis - how can she, or she & eldest child, feed 8 crying babies on 3 hourly feeds, in the middle of the night.
I think the time has come for the Federal, or State Governments if it is their jurisdiction, passed Legislation banning the implanting of more than 3 embryos: all 3 have a low chance or survival, but it obviously does happen. I feel the Law has assumed the "commosense" of the medical Profession for far too long, and double checks, which should have been in place years ago, simply are not there. This whole thing has become very distressing. sincerely, JaneD.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5627531.ece
Must be nice to be rewarded for irresponsibility.
I chose to limit myself to two children even though I had wanted 3 or 4. I am paying Kaiser Permanente over $200/month. It sickens me to think that I will probably have to pay her bills for the children I will never be able to have.
Did her Father high tail it back to Iraq because he was the sperm donor? In which case he would be in deep do do here...just a thought.