News the Stars Bring Today

So, medical history was made recently with the IVF, In Vitro Fertilization and the subsequent birth of octuplets in California. Now, this wasn’t a case in which the parents did not have any children, in fact the mother a 33 yr old single parent already had six other children, including twins. So, she will now be raising 14 children with the help of her mother. Her father is returning to Iraq to try to raise money for the family, since they have recently suffered some setbacks, financially. Namely the mother of the octuplets, Nadya Suleman, declared bankruptcy last year and abandoned their home.One wonders how she paid for an expensive procedure like IVF, in light of a current bankruptcy.

So, without the intervention of Kaiser Permanente Hospital staff, Nadya’s dream to have a the In Virto Fertilization, may have been delayed. Nadya, herself is seeking to return this Fall to work on her Master’s degree in Psychology.

Now, I have something of a medical background. This procedure is called an “elective
procedure.” That is it is not a life-saving procedure and is totally optional, like a breast enhancement, or a nip and tuck.

So, whenever this type of procedure is done, it is really the responsibility of the physician and the physician’s staff, to discuss the ramifications of the procedure. This discussion should be part of any elective medical procedure.

The reason, of course, is that there are consequences and side effects that can be anticipated from any procedure. Now, obviously, in this case, any medical social worker would most likely have advised that Ms. Suleman store her eggs for a later time, for example, after finishing her studies and securing gainful employment. If Ms. Suleman continued to press for the IVF, then the physician would have the responsibility to decide, and, even refuse the procedure.

I remember once, my granddaughter and I met an 8 yr old with braces. As a person who practiced dentistry for some years, I can tell you that 8 yr olds do not need orthodontics. That is for a child who is at least 11 or 12.

So, to me, the fault lies not only with the client, Nadya, who is in need of counseling, but also with the medical practitioners who allowed this. Here we have a situation in which 14 children may be growing up in a dysfunctional, possibly economically deprived, family.

It seems to me if adoptive parents need to go through extensive screening, then the same guidelines should have been applied to Ms. Suleman, or any client desiring IVF. In fact, a 60 yr old Canadian woman, who had multiple miscarriages, had to go to India to receive fertility treatment and delivered twins, according to Xinhuanet.

“No one has the right to interfere in natural conception, but ethics are different when medical advances are involved” said Margaret Somerville, a medical ethicist from McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Some others think that Nadya may have Angelina Jolie Obsession, with the puffed up lips and the big family craze. Big difference is that Angelina can afford them. The Grandmother also has some objections.