Octuplets mom does the right thing

IRON MOUNTAIN — I know a lot of people might think I am somewhere out in left field, but I think the California woman who gave birth to octuplets on Jan. 26 is doing the right thing. She has accepted responsibility and is in the process of figuring out how she will afford to raise her 14 children. Nadya Suleman had six children by in-vitro fertilization in less than six years. Since in-vitro was the only way she could get pregnant and she wanted another child, she did the procedure again last spring. Each time she had the procedure done, her doctor implanted six embryos. Her first four pregnancies were single births and her fifth pregnancy was twins. This last time, all six of the embryos implanted with two of them splitting, resulting in eight babies. At first, Suleman, 33, didn’t know she was carrying that many children. She was told there were five babies and then later she was told there were seven babies. At delivery, there was a surprise, and the medical team delivered eight babies. Now many people believe this woman was selfish or in the wrong for having that many embryos implanted. Or that the fertility specialist violated clinical guidelines by implanting six embryos. There are risks for all women undergoing fertility treatments. And women undergoing any sort of fertility treatment are told of the risks, which includes the possibility of multiple babies. Women undergoing fertility treatments want a baby so bad they will do anything to reach their dream, even if it means taking on the risk of multiple births. Look at the show John & Kate plus 8 on TLC, where Kate took fertility drugs and had six children. This was after they already had two children. They now have eight children. No one is criticizing them. Then look at the show “17 kids and counting” on TLC and DHC. This show is about the Dugger family where the mother had 17 children within 20 years. No one is criticizing her. Is it because they are married and have money? News reports indicate Suleman is currently on food stamps. In an interview with NBC’s Ann Curry on the Today show last week, the octuplet mother said being on food stamps is only temporary because she is attending school to get her masters degree in counseling. I personally think the media and all the critics should leave the Suleman alone and allow her to raise her 14 children as normal as possible. She has accepted responsibility and plans to find a way to support all her children. If she needs to use state aid for a short while until she gets her dream job, that is more than I can say for the many single mothers who are living off state aid. At least Suleman’s children all have the same father, who has been reported to be in shock.