Mother of Octuplets Shows a Dark Side of Parenting

When Iowans Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey gave birth to six infants in 1997, political fault lines were created by their decision to "put it in God's hands" when doctors suggested that they use selective reduction to improve the chances that more of the fetuses would survive. Many held the decision up as courageous, and the McCaugheys became the world's first parents of six surviving children born in a single pregnancy.

Much was made of the popularization of fertility drugs following the media frenzy around the McCaugheys. Statistically, large multiple births increase the chances that some, or even all, infants will not survive into childhood, but the McCaugheys continue to speak at pro-life events and advocate against selective reduction of multiple-fetus pregnancies.

While the plainspoken McCaugheys were the darlings of the political right, single mother Nadya Suleman may become an ignored nuisance, following reports that the circumstances of her pregnancy were mysterious. Currently, the doctor that handled her in-vitro fertilizations has not been named, and neither has the sperm donor for the eight children, who were born January 26, 2009. Suleman's mother stated to the media that her daughter was "obsessed" with having children. Like the McCaugheys, she refused selective reduction despite the urgings of doctors.

These are the circumstances: Nadya Suleman is unmarried and apparently unemployed, although she earned a Bachelor's degree in child and adolescent development from California State University-Fullerton in 2006. Suleman now has 14 children in all, all conceived through in-vitro fertilization, and all will require intensive, expensive medical care to increase the likelihood of their survival. At least eight embryos were intentionally placed in her by a doctor or doctors. Her mother consulted with a psychologist because of Nadya's obsession with having children. It remains to be seen how many of the eight tiny infants will survive, or how many will have birth defects. Most mysterious is childcare worker Yolanda Garcia's statement that, according to Nadya, "she got paid for" her in-vitro pregnancies.

Fully evident, however, are the continued debates surrounding the ethics of multiple births and overpopulation. And the Sulemans' case also introduces the American phenomenon of children being raised by extended family as opposed to two parents. Nadya Suleman and her six children lived with her parents until they kicked her out of the house at the suggestion of a psychologist, only to be surprised by Nadya's octuplet pregnancy. Even further complicating the ethical questions raised by the Nadya Suleman case is the fact that, according to her mother Angela, Nadya may have had all eight frozen embryos placed in her at once because those were the remaining embryos from her previous in-vitro fertilizations.

For pro-lifers, an embryo and a fetus are no less than a person, and the abortion of either akin to murder. However, it is likely that some of the eight infants will not survive to childhood or adulthood; after all, the McCaugheys' brood was the first successful septuplet pregnancy in history, and two of their six children have cerebral palsy requiring lifetime medical care, an effect of premature birth. If none of the Suleman octuplets survive, will it have been murder to not abort some of the fetuses? The moral ambiguities are shocking, and it's doubtful that as much unsolicited aid will come to Nadya Suleman and her fourteen children as came to the McCaugheys.

The complex circumstances of the Suleman octuplets point to the dark side of parenting in America today. Presumably jobless and without a parenting partner, Nadya Suleman nonetheless proceeded to have fourteen children with the aid of an irresponsible fertility doctor. She abused her power to bear children, and is a terrible model for family planning, whether one's views come from a pro-choice or pro-life perspective. Was she indeed paid by a fertility doctor to have a large multiple pregnancy? We must hope that there is no Dr. Frankenstein of in-vitro fertilization at work in Southern California, impregnating psychologically unbalanced women with numerous embryos.

As we wait for more information about the Suleman octuplets, we can be sure that we have reached a very peculiar era in American parenting.

This editorial used the CBS News/Associated Press article "Octuplets' Mom 'Obsessed' With Having Kids" for background information.