Octuplets: Ethics vs a Womans Rights.

You know the story, it's been all over the news. The second set of living octuplets born in the United States about 2 weeks ago. This miraculous birth has sparked many debates about the ethics involved with implanting 8 embryos into one woman.

Some contend that regulating the number of embryos will start the United States on a path to regulating the number of children we can have. To me this is not a rational opinion.

Regulating the number of embryos is not the same thing as regulating the amount of children you have. Lets say that a woman is implanted with 3 embryos. Those embryos could, though very rare, become a set of sextuplets or more. Regulating the number of embryos has everything to do with trying to protect the mother and the babies that she is carrying. The risks are great in cases of high order multiples. You have the risks to the mother as well as immeasurable risks to the babies.

In the case of IVF (in-vitro fertilization), you are able to control how many embryos you implant. In the case of IUI, you cannot control the number of babies. IUI (intrauterine insemination), is the where you normally see high order multiples. In the case of the Gosselins and Hayes families. Two families both already with a set of multiples (in the case of the Hayes family they had two sets of twins), they both had IUI. In IUI, the mother takes fertility drugs to encourage her eggs to drop then when the woman is fertile they insert the fathers sperm. In this case, you have no control over how many babies you will have. You have no control over how many eggs will drop. You have a higher likelihood of having high order multiples. But again the risks are still great. The Gosselins are lucky in that their children have really no lasting effects. They are all healthy and well. In the case of the Hayes family one of their sextuplets has cerebral palsy. In many cases of sextuplets and higher order multiples, not all the babies survive.

So is it worth it? Is it worth it to take that risk when you don't have to? I don't know. For me it's not. But this is where the mother's rights come into play. What if the patient is adamant? What do you do? If I were her doctor I would probably have first mandated counseling. I mean, if you have to go into counseling before you get your tubes tied or an IUD inserted, why shouldn't you have to go to counseling before you have 8 embryos implanted into your uterus?

But I don't know. Are the rights of the mother greater than the law? Should a mother be allowed to put her body and her children through such an ordeal? I think that question is too big for me. Its not just black and white.

Am I mad about the situation? Yes. The more I find out about the mother and her situation, yes, I am mad (probably more so at her doctor than at her). I am frustrated at the doctor who allowed this to happen in the first place. Should my view supersede the rights of the mother? No. But should the doctor who helped her get pregnant be investigated or even to some extent held responsible for this? Definitely.