I am not the only person to be upset about this woman in California. Doctors, radio show hosts (Adam Carolla), and everyone else are almost as confused as I am. The biggest thing is that ALL of her children were out of wedlock. Now, I am not so conservative to misunderstand that shit happens and you can have children out of wedlock in our modern society and survive. However, she now has had 14 KIDS out of wedlock. She had the last eight via fertility treatments after she had already had 6 children at home. Excuse me, her mother's home (she still lives with her parents). The mother of 14 has a life goal to become a MOM (yeah, that wasn't a joke). She went to the fertility doctor because she wanted another girl. Really? How selfish is that? She lives with her parents (who recently declared bankruptcy) and can't support herself and her 6 kids, yet she wanted one more? What doctor would give her the treatment if she already had 6 kids? At what point to we draw the line? Well, ma'am, you have 6 kids, fertility is NOT for you. Plus you can't support even one more on your own. This 14 child family will be a drain on the system of the most egregious variety. She doesn't NEED more kids and at some point (if natural methods aren't working) fertility treatments must be denied or regulated.
I hate to rant against this mother (who is 33 years old), but I feel she is irresponsible. The physicians even advised her that they should remove some embryos so that the others would have a greater chance at survival. Nope. So now she has 14 kids, lives at her parents, and will clearly have a difficult time providing for them. This is the debate we should have in our nation. When is it too much of a good thing? I have no problem with large families, but single (or married) moms who live at their mom's house with 6 kids ALREADY...SHOULD NOT GET FERTILITY TREATMENTS!!! The children of this mother are the ones who will suffer the most (due to her selfishness) and that is the saddest thing about this story.
This presents the nation with a very important ethical argument. Can you just procreate regardless of your current situation? And when will our population outgrow the nation's capacity to sustain life? I DO NOT have the answers to these questions, but from this situation to crack babies, we need to start talking about this issue. Maybe abstinence education is not the answer. Maybe we need to be more proactive about educating the masses regarding sex. I don't know. What do you think?
Cricket deserved better.
2 weeks ago
4 comments:
I have to say, there's a lot of irresponsibility to go around in this case. From this 33 year old mother of 14, to her parents, to her ridiculous doctors.
She CLEARLY did not need fertility drugs for another child. We know what you've got works! And, where did she get the money for this procedure, anyway? Is this the real reason why her parents had to file for bankruptcy? She's just plain selfish.
And what ware her parents thinking? How can they think this is an ideal situation for anyone involved? That's just ignorant and turning a blind eye to reality.
And those doctors! Ugh. Their licenses need to be reviewed, at the least and at best, revoked. The oath is to do no harm, and giving this woman 8 more babies that are statistically guaranteed some health issues, when she already has 6 that she's not able to handle on her own is definitely causing harm. I have more to say, but will hold my tongue...for now.
This woman is delusional. Her doctors should have recommended that she get a psychiatric evaluation. Perhaps it's stress related to her divorce from her husband, or simply from trying to raise six kids on her own, or from the stress of knowing her parents were still supporting her. Bottom line, she should not have been given the medicine she asked for.
Let's also take a look at her intentions and the idiocy of her doctors. If she wants more kids, why not adopt? There are orphanages in every single major city in this country, and people put children up for adoption EVERY DAY! If the doctor was smart, he/she could have suggested that this woman apply for adoption. At least there is a system in place to evaluate whether or not she is fit to be a parent of yet another child.
Fertility medication should only be given after a social worker has signed off on the treatment. If the parent is deemed unfit to raise a child by the social worker, the prescription cannot be given out. Deciding the criteria for this may be tricky, and politically dangerous. It also is an admittedly slippery slope. However, this is the only way to prevent situations like this from happening. It seems to me we really cannot trust doctors, or put them in a position to unanimously approve or disapprove a family's ability to have additional children.
Samit, in your last paragraph you present a very slippery slope (as you indicate). Where can we draw the line? How much government influence do we want in our personal lives? Especially in the case of pregnancies. unSlimmie, I agree that there are several irresponsible parties in this 'crime'. But the main issue is with the woman herself and the doctor that implanted (yes, implanted) the 8 embryos. The physician implanted much too many (as several other fertility doctors have mentioned). And why is she getting artificially inseminated? She can't have regular sex or something?? So many issues with this story. This is where we have come as a nation. Damn technology!!
Yes, it's a slippery slope, but adoption agencies tread that slope all the time. I think the line should be drawn when a woman comes to a doctor asking for fertility care. There is going to be a level of inconvenience, and delay because of government interference. The best way to evaluate this is cost-benefit...how often do we deal with issues related to fertility? Is it worth putting every potential mother through this process because of a few incompetent families and doctors?
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