Octuplets born in Bellflower [UPDATED] | L.A. Now | Los Angeles Times

I can't imagine....don't want to imagine....I would HAVE to have help! I only had singles and thought I would need a straight jacket.

The hardest thing to imagine besides 8 crying/poopy babies all at once is all the big money issues all at the same time: cars, braces, college....

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I'm speechless!

__________________
Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

And I just heard she wants to breastfeed ALL OF THEM! That seems impossible to me, she'll have a child feeding at almost every minute of the day!

__________________
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Wow, the parents are going to have some crazy sleepless nights for the next little while

I would demand a recount
Seriously, I don't know what I would have done. One at a time was plenty for me.

I read that when people have multiple births you have people in and out of your house helping.

__________________
Sometimes the elevator often the shaft

That would be impossible, IMO. I had twins and wasn't able to breastfeed them. I tried to breastfeed them, but they were premature and nursed so slow and such a small amount that that's all I did. I'd get one finished and then the other and then it was time to nurse the other one again! I was absolutely exhausted before I even left the hospital.

I truly wish them the best and hope all the babies are healthy.

Has any one heard anything about the father?

DH noticed that they said the "mother" doesn't want to be identified'
Not "parents" don't want to be identified?

God bless her. She will have her hands full !

__________________
Live, Love, Laugh

Not to mention her boobs!

Sorry I couldn't resist!

__________________
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

That remark gets you the "boobie" prize today

__________________
Sometimes the elevator often the shaft

Gah, it's Human Surprise!

I'm foreseeing a lot of pumping for this woman.

just imagining breast feeding 8 hungry babies is making my girls shrivel up like prunes!

__________________
Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

I only have 4 and am the oldest of 10, all born in different years! I just can't imagine!!! My Boobs ache for this women, but Im sure she'll be changeing her mind real soon! If she hasn't already!

__________________
I have OCCD
Obsessive-Compulsive Coupon Disorder!!!

The news is reporting that this mother is a single mother, who lives with her parents... and already has 6 children at home.

So much is debatable with this, especially since it is almost certain that fertility treatment was involved.

Could this be correct? She already has 6 children and no daddy in sight? I can't imagine why she would want another baby let alone fertility treatments.

__________________
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

I dont know much about taxes, do you have to work much to recieve the, not sure exact name, the child refund so much per child.

Wonder who paid for the invitro.

__________________
Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com

My other favorites
www.paperbackswap.com
www.wheresgeorge.com
www.geocaching.com

just read that Nkem Chukwu breast fed her 7 <the 8th died> a decade ago

__________________
Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com

My other favorites
www.paperbackswap.com
www.wheresgeorge.com
www.geocaching.com

OH MY GOSH! Would you want your DD to move in with her kids and then have 8 more babies.


Just think what she can get from some magazine for the first pictures and an interview.



found this-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_162158.html


.

this saying the daughters husband is returning from iraq or the mothers? I'm not feeling well today and my brain isnt working heheh


Mother of octuplets has six other children - CNN.com

__________________
Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com

My other favorites
www.paperbackswap.com
www.wheresgeorge.com
www.geocaching.com

It was reported that the mother did indeed have fertility treatments (not that anyone is surprised about that), 8 embryos were implanted and all of them 'took'. This is against standard practice of no more than 4 embryos being implanted at one time. The mother was counseled on selective reduction but chose not to do that.

It was also said that the babies' grandfather (NOT the babies father) is going back to Iraq (as a civillian contractor) to help earn money for the family.

I can hardly imagine having 6 kids age 7 and under, let alone14 <yikes>. I think there is a lot more to this story that is not being said.

So, not word on the status of the father? I cannot understand why she was receiving fertility treatments if a) she already had six kids and, b) she is not married (which still needs to be confirmed). If all this information is accurate, the media is going to have a heydey with this one.

__________________
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

Okay, does this story anger anyone else? I mean really.. why in the world would you have 14 kids and NO husband in sight. Does this woman have a great job, or is she on welfare? If she's on welfare, then this is exactly why limits need to be set. It just doesn't make any sense.

On the CNN story link, the highlights at the top of the article says "the father, a contract worker, is due to return to Iraq"
In the article it says "Suleman said she was concerned about her daughter's homecoming because her husband, a contract worker, is due to return to Iraq."
So, I'm not understanding the article to say the grandfather is going back to Iraq. Instead, I'm understanding that the father is returning to Iraq.

I had read also she has recently filed for bankruptcy and is on welfare.

I think with 14 kids my DH would try to go hide too!

__________________
Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com

My other favorites
www.paperbackswap.com
www.wheresgeorge.com
www.geocaching.com

Reminds me of that old James Bond movie: Octapus--sy

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Limits set on what?

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I really don't care how many kids a person has or if they have have a spouse or mate to help them out. Just as long as my tax money isn't supporting them. I don't mind supporting children and thier families that are down on thier luck for a limited time but I sure hope this is not the case. ... and if it is... can I claim them on my taxes?

This article Octuplets Conceived Through IVF, Mom Recently Declared Bankruptcy, Possible Sperm Donor states that "The babies grandfather is reportedly going back to Iraq to earn money for the doubled family". I'm not sure how credible this source is however.

Is it really true that state-funded healthcare provides IVF services? Mind-blowing!

I like the one person's comment: Animal protection would take 14 dogs from a family in this situation.
(that's one of my hot buttons - that we as a society seem to care more about animals than humans)

cj/

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I think that's a little fishy too. I think there's some info still to come.

You have to wonder about the doctor who provided this service to a mother who already had six kids. If I were him/her, I'd send her to a shrink first.

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I agree - and why on earth was she having fertility treatments if she has six other kids all under the age of seven?

She doesn't sound like a woman with fertility trouble! I guess it's possible that her other kids were also conceived through IVF, but I can't figure out when she would have had time to let them harvest eight eggs to implant. If the youngest is two now, it was probably one at the time she was working towards the eight implanted embryos.

I'd take the Duggars over this yahoo any day!

I saw on one of the morning news shows, that the experts are calling this a medical disaster. Let's just assume that the mother's not all there since she was seeking to get infertility treatments. Wouldn't the specialized doctors not approve her treatments based on the fact that she already has so many children? I assume it is quite a process to be approved for these treatments.

__________________
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

Limits on the amount of welfare a person can get.

Love the Duggars!!! I think the doctor/clinic will be in trouble if all these statements are true. That would be incredibly irresponsible of any doctor or clinic to do this. They should have to pay to raise those kids, not us taxpayers!

So, innocent babies of mothers like these can just go hungry?

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

What would your limits be? And, when the innocent, "over the limit" kids starve or die from simple medical problems, how do we respond?

ETA -- what would your declaration be if the Duggars fell upon hard times. Or, if mamma Duggar finds out ol' JimBob likes the girls to wear dresses for easy access (if you know what I mean) and she leaves him. (lets forget they are using her uterus as a money making machine at this point) I mean, really, 18 kids? There ought to be a limit ...

ETA: I think this is a horrible use of medical techology and the MD who inserted 8 embryos should be shot, stood up, and shot again.

If she is on government assistance, then she surely did not pay for this procedure herself.

If she needed government assistance to get pregnant, I don't believe she should have been allowed to have this procedure. As I surmised above, she doesn't appear to have fertility problems because she has six children, all under the age of seven. She essentially had one a year for four years running, and then had a set of twins.

The taxpayers don't exist to make her endless dreams of motherhood come true. That's where the limits need to be set, IMHO.

Am I dreaming this up? Aren't there states that require a woman with a certain number of children (3?) to be on depro or some such thing before they can receive welfare?

I think you're dreaming it -- and if you're not, I assume those states require the fathers to get vasectomies and the doctors who implant embryos into women on welfare be sterilized.

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

No, I am pretty sure I read it was the grandfather. Suleman is the grandmother and is referring to HER husband, not her daughter's husband.

I am sure there will be an investigation into this. If this was an in vitro pregnancy it was completely unethical, not because it happens to be a single mother but because apparently eight (or more) embryos were implanted. I can't imagine an accredited doctor in the US would have done this. I wonder if she had it done in another country.

Maybe she did it hoping to get a tv show, ala John and Kate Plus Eight?

__________________
Raising my baby RIGHT!!!!!!

All the cool babies are wearing cloth!

I googled and saw lots of posts on message boards discussing the concept, but no info about there being such a law anywhere. I did see someone mention this, which I thought was interesting:

The additional child still receives food and health care benefits in all states. The cost saved is probably slight. Sadly, it is the child who suffers.

If you actually care to read a paper about the effects of caps -- http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/...l291/smith.pdf

I don't doubt that there are children who suffer as a result of caps on how much their parents are allowed to receive. I wish there was a magic bullet, because I also firmly believe that it becomes a self-perpetuating system of expectations for children who grow up in families where government assistance is just a way of life. Helping those children is all too often a band aid but not a cure. The "hand up" part never happens when "hand out" is the only way of life that is ever demonstrated for them.

I don't pretend to know the answer for that quandry, but I absolutely would be in favor of requiring some sort of birth control for someone who wants assistance. While it may not seem fair that such a stipulation would be more difficult to enforce with men than with women, the reality is that it's our bodies that bear the babies, and it is usually the mother that ends up raising them. With that gender-based likelihood comes an extra measure of responsibility we must take, IMHO.

Was there some private citizen who was offering money to welfare-receiving moms if they would agree to sterilization a few years ago?

I think we are losing sight of :
1. the fact that this mother wanted ONE child and was given eight.
2.Given the option of selective reduction (abortion) of some of the fetuses, her beliefs/concious/decision was to carry them to term.
3. Let's not forget that if she had just had one, or twins, this would not be a story.
4. I'm assuming she wanted to stay anonymous for a reason, and our reaction most likely is the reason. We wouldn't be talking this way about her if it WAS one baby. Know what I mean?
5. It is considered a medical disaster to give someone 8 children thru infertility treatments.
6. No one would CHOOSE to carry/deliver 8 babies!

I'm not on anyone's side in particular, because I do not have all the facts. I'm trying to reserve my opinion until I know more, but I know that I'd find it difficult to deal with all this attention and heat if I were postpartum.

Nope, I would feel the same way if it comes to light that the woman already has six children and is not able to care for them without assistance. Even if she only wanted one, but got eight, it should have remained a want. And government assistance should not provide for infertility treatments, in my opinon. We don't always get what we want. That's life.

cj/

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I just don't get why she would even want one more child, I think she is rather selfish. If what we have heard is true and she is on assistance, then I feel she was wrong. She should have been concentrating on taking care of the children she already has.......and working to better her life and get off assistance. There are so many women out there that would give anything to be able to have a child, and they aren't expecting taxpayers to pay for whatever procedures are necessary to make their dreams come true, let alone pay to raise them!

She isn't getting assistance; never has. Is it because she is black that people automatically jumped to this conclusion? I have often wondered if the Duggers ever relied on public assistance.

A doctor should always query the mother on her attitude towards selective reduction. In a case where the mother will not consider such a procedure, no more than 4 embryos should be implanted. It is far too risky for everyone involved.

The fact that any of these babies survived is a miracle.

Not me. I have no idea what race she is.

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I wasn't aware that she is black. Color has nothing to do with it. To me, Its more about common sense.

She gets no assistance.

How do you know that? How do you know that will be the case going forward?

News reports say that she filed bankruptcy. While not public assistance, it does mean that she has not paid her debts and that others have shouldered that responsbility for her.

This is a medical ethics nightmare, surely, but the parents needs to bear some responsibility and have exercised some common sense - along with the doctors and the healthcare system.

cj/

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

My thoughts on this issue are that even if she isn't on assistance right now, eventually she will be. Does she have a job, health insurance? Who will be paying for the 27 people who helped deliver these babies, the hosptial costs involved with keeping them in the hospital for a long period of time, future medical bills, food, clothing, medicine, housing? She is a single mother of fourteen children, so you really think she will be raising them without any assistance from taxpayers? There isn't even a father in the picture to help her. Unless she wins the lottery, she will need assistance. As far as comparing this situation to the Duggars....I think they are selfish and bit nuts too.