6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

[Rapunzel]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

From what I have read the woman is single.

Her mother reports that the woman has stated she is being "paid" to have fertility treatments. :huh: Her mother also states that these octuplets were implanted fertilized eggs that the woman had frozen previously.

It's a really bizarre situation: How did this single women with six kids get a doctor to implant so many eggs? I understand not wanting to selectively reduce but I have a neighbor who ended up with two sets of twins through implantation and she made it clear to her doctor not to implant more than two eggs at a time so that they wouldn't HAVE to visit the idea of selective reduction. There are logical and ethical ways to avoid the selective reduction problem.

Anyway, it's so odd and ethically mind-blowing. I honestly don't think that fertility treatments should be part of the medical care for people on the dole. Her doctor is crazy - or she outright lied to him and told him she doesn't have any children (when, in fact, she already had six) - but wouldn't a physical examination be able to show him that she had already had multiple pregnancies (at least two)? I can't think of any religious organization that would condone this behavior as they tend to espouse the principle that children be born to a family with both mother and father present.

One other note: I read that there is a father on the birth certificates of all six of the previous children. Who is this guy? She claims not to be married. Is this person who has been paying for the fertility treatments?

There are some weird things that are going to come out of this. I've been contemplating the possibilities and some of them are pretty sick (selling babies, maybe?).

[Meenah]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

There are some weird things that are going to come out of this. I've been contemplating the possibilities and some of them are pretty sick (selling babies, maybe?).

Jenn, that was one of my first thoughts. If so, that is so very sad for those babies.

[SuzySunshine]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

But how is she going to sale them now that its public knowledge that they exist?

[DCJenn]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

There is a level of badness here that I can't quite wrap my head around.

J.

[Momo]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

Does she know Michael Jackson? :huh:

[MrsK]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

This just keeps getting more bizzare. . . http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28948599/

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

I wonder who implanted that many embryos and how she paid for it. How does the contractor working in Iraq fit into it or was that just a cover?

[Cumberland]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

There are lots of fertility clinics in other countries that cater to foreigners. She could have had it done there.

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

That article has since been updated:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/us_wo ... onger.html

Makes sense about another country, Mexico would be an easy trip from LA. Now I have to stop reading about this and go get something done!

[Rapunzel]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

This is where my red flags are going up:

Yolanda Garcia, 49, of Whittier, said she helped care for the mother's autistic son three years ago.

"From what I could tell back then, she was pretty happy with herself, saying she liked having kids and she wanted 12 kids in all," Garcia told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

"She told me that all of her kids were through in vitro, and I said 'Gosh, how can you afford that and go to school at the same time?"' she added. "And she said it's because she got paid for it."

Garcia said she did not ask for details.

The mother holds a 2006 degree in child and adolescent development from California State University, Fullerton, and as late as last spring she was studying for a master's degree in counseling, college spokeswoman Paula Selleck told the Press-Telegram.

Her fertility doctor has not been identified. Her mother told the Los Angeles Times all the children came from the same sperm donor but she declined to identify him.

They all came from the same sperm donor and she's being paid to have in vitro fertilization???

And, then having EIGHT embryos implanted all in one go - that's a level of craziness that's hard to believe. Her doctor is insane. No wonder he hasn't identified himself.

If it boils down to the woman wanting to do this for fame and money that is pretty sick. I cannot see that her mental health is the best....

[Rapunzel]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

Did some googling whilst recovering from flu:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... linic.html

The woman who gave birth to octuplets had previously worked in a fertility clinic, it has been claimed.

A neighbour said her other children were also born using IVF and that all 14 were by the same sperm donor, the paper says.

But as more details emerged about her massive family, she became caught up in an ethics row over how an apparently single mother - whose family had allegedly been in dire financial straits - was able to
get fertility treatment.

A source told CBS News that the family declared bankruptcy and abandoned a house a little over a year and a half ago.


The hospital where the octuplets were born - Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower, California - has said by the time the woman came to them she was already three months pregnant.
During an interview on CBS's The Early Show, Michael Tucker, scientific director of Georgia Reproductive Specialists, said: 'As the story's unfolded and it's gone from the potential use of just fertility drugs, or misuse thereof, to actual, apparently, IVF (in-vitro fertilization) with transfer of embryos, this is just remarkable to me that any practitioner in our field of reproductive medicine would undertake such a practice.'

Concerns were also raised over the family's home - what appeared to be a well-kept but cramped two or three-bedroom bungalow, hardly adequate for such a large family.
But the babies' grandfather said the family have a far larger house elsewhere - and warned that media may have a tougher time finding the family after the babies are released from the hospital. (Is that a threat or a dare or something - just really weird). - me
'We have a huge house, not here,' said the man, who only identified himself as Ed. 'You are never going to know where it is.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8336526

Records show that she held a psychiatric technician's license from 1997 to 2002. It was unclear whether she is now employed.

Court records show Angela Suleman filed for bankruptcy last March, but after she failed to make required payments and appear at a creditors' meeting, the case was dismissed. She reported liabilities of $981,371, mostly money owed on two houses she owns in Whittier.

Jessica Zepeda, who identified herself as a friend of the mother, said the woman and family would have enough money to raise 14 children. "She is not on welfare," Zepeda said. "She is an awesome mom, and will be able to take care of her babies."

I found a couple of websites that are spreading a MUCH less salacious rumor about the weirdness going on here: The woman is actually the second wife of the guy being identified as her father (the grandmother of the babies is actually the first wife). Thus, she is identified as unmarried in court records and her past financial woes have dried up (apparently the guy who has been identified in the news as her father is not doing too badly with money - and has even stated he's got a HUGE house somewhere hidden that she'll be going to). Anyway, that's a whole lot more straightforward and would explain a LOT of the cloak and dagger around all of this. But, it still doesn't explain away the malpractice some clinic committed when it implanted eight embryos all at once. The doctor involved is so not off the hook even if that rumor turns out to be true.

Anyway, just an interesting thing that kept poppint up....

[Rapunzel]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

Well, I quoted off of their AP article - hopefully AP won't sue me....

[Rapunzel]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

I was bored and thought I would look this up one last time.

Now this lady has her own publicist!!!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,486645,00.html

Suleman is being deluged with offers for book deals, TV shows and other business proposals, but according to her publicist she hasn't decided what she might do once she leaves the hospital.

Seriously?

Who gets a publicist a day after giving birth to octuplets!?! She must have been planning for this for awhile.

This article has some more info, though:


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 627531.ece

Angela and Ed Suleman, Nadya’s parents,bought her a two-bedroom bungalow in the suburb of Whittier in March 2007, but soon after got into debt and had to leave their own home.

They filed for bankruptcy and moved in with their daughter and grandchildren. Last week her father said he would return to his native Iraq to work as a translator and driver.

Angela Suleman, who is caring for the first six children — one of whom is autistic — while her daughter is in hospital, said yesterday that she had consulted a psychologist over Nadya’s “obsession with children”.

Nadya Suleman, who describes herself as a “professional student” living off education grants and parental money, broke up with her boyfriend before the birth of her first child seven years ago.

The identity of the octuplets’ father remains unknown, but local reports suggest they were conceived with frozen sperm donated by a friend she met while working at a fertility clinic. He is the father of her twins, born two years ago.

[Sheherezade]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

Here's my article tidbit, Jenn.

Nadya Suleman's fertility doctor has not been identified. Her mother told the Los Angeles Times all the children came from the same sperm donor, but she declined to identify him.

However, birth certificates reviewed by The Associated Press identify David Solomon as the father for Nadya Suleman's four oldest children. Certificates for the other children were not immediately available. Nadya Suleman's first six children range in age from 2 to 7.

Records show that she held a psychiatric technician's license from 1997 to 2002. It was unclear whether she is now employed.

It was only the second time in U.S. history that eight babies survived more than a few hours after birth. The six boys and two girls were said to be in remarkably good condition but were expected to remain in the hospital for several more weeks.

The mother of the octuplets lives with her parents in a modest, single-story home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Whittier, a city of about 85,000. Children's bicycles, a pink car and a wagon were scattered in the yard and driveway.

On Thursday night, the children's grandfather came to the door and angrily told reporters to leave the property.

Court records show Suleman filed for bankruptcy last March, but after she failed to make required payments and appear at a creditors' meeting, the case was dismissed. She reported liabilities of $981,371, mostly money owed on two houses she owns in Whittier.

The births were a hot topic of conversation on the Internet, with many people incredulous that a woman with six children would try to have more - and that a doctor would help her do so. Some criticized the doctor and suggested that the mother would be overwhelmed trying to raise her brood and would end up relying on public support.

Jessica Zepeda, who identified herself as a friend of the mother, said the woman and family would have enough money to raise 14 children. "She is not on welfare," Zepeda said. "She is an awesome mom, and will be able to take care of her babies."

Very interesting mystery. It seems planned. I don't know if it was for profit or simply for personal satisfaction. Either way, it is a strange situation. I guess we will be hearing more as her interviews get scheduled.

[diggitydot]

Re: 6 + Octuplets = FOURTEEN!!!

I'm calling "bullshit" on this publicist:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28984255/

Hundreds of requests have been made since Nadya Suleman gave birth to six boys and two girls a week ago, said Joann Killeen, president of Killeen Furtney Group, a public relations company.

"She's the most sought after mom in the world right now," Killeen said. "Everyone wants to talk to her."

But Suleman, who remained hospitalized with her children Monday at Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower Medical Center, hasn't decided what she'll do next, Killeen said.

Some of the deals and requests for interviews involve offers to pay, said Killeen and her partner, Mike Furtney. They didn't reveal the amounts being offered, but Killeen noted that raising eight babies will be expensive, adding that Suleman plans to carefully review her financial opportunities.

I'm sure there have been some people approaching her for interviews, but I don't think too many are either offering gobs of dough nor looking to do a show sympathetic to her choices. This to me screams of a publicist attempting to spin a quickly deteriorating public relations fiasco in the hopes of cultivating some positive attention that might pay the client for interviews. That the publicist specifically mentions that "some [interview requests] involve pay" makes me think this is code for "we want a bidding war". Ugh. This is just pegging my ick meter.

The spokeswoman discounted some published reports that Suleman had already decided to host a television show on parenting.

More likely the show idea was ditched once everyone began talking about the elephants in the room -- the mom's possible mental deficiencies, the ethical and moral issues, that the doctor refusing to come forward, or the exceptionally questionable choices made by this woman. I would imagine the publicists correctly foresaw the general public not buying a word of "advice" from this train wreck.