Eight for the Price of One: The Story of Nadya Suleman

Nadya Denise Suleman has recently become a lightning rod for controversy since she gave birth to octuplets on January 26, 2009 in Bellflower California through invitro-fertlization. IVF as it is commonly called is a process where the eggs are fertilized artificially by the sperm outside the womb. This is usually due to problems in the reproductive system. The fertilized egg is placed inside the uterus and allowed to develop as normal.

This was not only due to the rarity of surviving octuplets but to the fact that she was separated, jobless and already has six children. Many people view this as an act of selfishness and irresponsibility. This is especially true these days when many are jobless and people are getting kicked out of their homes. The sad part is that taxpayers may end up footing the bill.Nadya has been in the spotlight through television interviews and magazine and newspaper articles. She has also reportedly received an offer to do a pornographic movie. She has also received death threats. Well that's fame for you.

What is the Motive?

Though we are not psychiatrists, based on the articles I have read and the interviews I have watched, I can deduce some theories.

-Nadya did not feel enough love from her parents as a single child and longed to have siblings but never got any. Now she is surrounding herself with a lot of children to get love from.-Nadya wants to become famous. Well being famous or notorious could lead to a lot of things such as movie deals, television deals, book deals and merchandising deals. This could help her with her financial problems. Remember Monica Lewinsky? As Eric Bischoff says "Controversy creates cash."

-Nadya did not get children from her marriage so she is making up for it. People tend to compensate what they lacked previously. Most often they do it in an excessive manner.-Nadya likes kids. Nadya may simply like children and decided to have a lot of them.

My Opinion

As in any controversial topic, you would have different points of view on this case. There is a percentage of people who would say that the IVF process be restricted and that people should be screened for financial and mental capacity in as far as raising children, there is also a percentage of people that say that the octomom should be supported and feel sorry for her kids. There is also a percentage that would say that people should be allowed to decide and their own but should be liable for their actions.

I am a proponent of the third option which is to allow people to decide things on their own. However, these people should be liable for their own actions and should not rely on the government or the private sector to bail them out of the hole they have dug for themselves. With great freedom comes great responsibility. We should always man up to our decisions.I am disgusted at how America which was once the world's wealthiest and most powerful nation become bankrupt because of the entitlement mentality. Never mind if I squander my life's savings. The government will give me pension anyway. I am a public official. I expect the government to provide everything to me including my office, meals, transportation, staff and retirement. I am a mother of fourteen children with no job and no husband. Thant is okay. The government will help me as well.

I was not very happy when I watched Nadya's interview on NBC with Ann Curry. She viewed welfare and student loans as a resource for supporting her kids. She also did not have concrete ideas on how she could support fourteen kids considering some of these had disabilities. She kept saying she will do her best and that she has help. You have the lives of fourteen people on your hands Nadya. I expected better and more responsible answers.This is a case of the lack logical thinking. Picture this. You are a jobless person. The house you are living in is not even your and is doomed to foreclosure. You also have six kids who need your support. You are also separated. Why would you want to have another child? Let alone eight. Well in the end, as much as legislation for IVF makes sense in some areas, it restricts human freedom to choose. America was founded on freedom and I do not see any reason for it to restrict freedom now. What I would want to see is that welfare would be reformed to only benefit people who really need welfare. People such as the orphaned, the disabled and the elderly are people who fall into that category. The reasons America has a ballooning deficit is because of imbalance of trade, excessive spending on the military and because of excessive spending on welfare. Stop the bleeding. Fix the welfare system.

Sources:

Nadya's profile is sourced from wikipedia and NBC News