US Octuplets Drama Triggers Calls For Tougher Regulations

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

Needless to say there has been huge outcry over the latest octuplets case of Ms. Suleman. Virtually all media outlets have seen fit to make the story day in and day out front page news. Judging from this article and many others of its ilk, the outcry is not necessarily that an IVF procedure resulted in an octuplet birth. The fundamental complaint is one of massive irresponsibility on the part of the mother and of the fertility doctor regarding: (1) implanting more embryos than called for by ASRM guidelines; (2) Suleman's pre existing six children added to by the eight new ones to make 14; (3) Suleman's poor financial condition with consequent presumed difficulty in supporting 14 children; (4) Suleman's status as a "welfare mother" suggesting that the cost of raising the octuplets will fall to the taxpayers; (5) Suleman's apparent search for publicity (she has hired a publicist) to turn her octuplet experience into a money making venture; and perhaps (6) the lack of a committed father since, seemingly, only a sperm donor without any support commitment was involved in all of her pregnancies.

Each or all of the six reasons for outrage listed above have legitimacy as a basis for condemning what has occurred. Perhaps some of the reasons for outrage are mitigated by facts as presented by Ms. Suleman. For example, she claims that every one of her pregnancies via IVF was based on implantation of six embryos. In spite of that, she only had singletons in the prior pregnancies. I do not know if her claims regarding prior pregnancies are validated and if she had only one offspring from each pregnancy naturally or if some or all were due to selective reduction. She also claims that the sperm donor was not the usual anonymous one but instead someone she was close to, enough so that he had contemplated marrying Ms. Suleman.

Unfortunately, after all the outrage is over and all the investigating of Ms. Suleman and/or her IVF physician are completed, we will still perhaps be left with the question: Should a mother (or parents) be prevented from asking for steps to be taken to give assurance that their search for childbirth be fulfilled? If it might take eight embryos to achieve that result, should it be legally barred? If there are no IVF doctors who would carry out the procedure, then so be it. But, making it the law? This is not China with its one child policy.

I don't know, but I suspect that there have been other cases of implantation of eight embryos by respected fertility doctors. However, I suspect again that in most if not all of those cases, the mother underwent selective reduction if too many embryos implanted. If my suspicion is true, and this is only a suspicion on my part, then could it be a crime to implant eight embryos that get carried to term if it is not a crime to implant that number, when some or all fail to make it to the end?

Click on the link below to access the article mentioned above:
US Octuplets Drama Triggers Calls For Tougher Regulations