The thing about Octomom is that it raises such feelings of disgust and pity in me. Disgust for the mom who clearly has issues and pity for the kids. Look at how the Jackson 5 turned out and they weren't even multiples! Jon & Kate Plus 8 shows me how kids can be raised "normally" even when on TV and one of 6. But it obviously takes a lot of hard work on their part and they have a huge support system. Octomom? Not so much. Even her mother has been throwing her under the bus!
I read today that Octomom is buying a $500K 4 bedroom house in California. I assume it all funded by donations since Nadya Suleman has no real income aside from disability payments. But she does have 6 older kids to help her raise these octuplets. Talk about a breeding ground for resentment...
Octomom is also getting 24 hour free nursing from a not-for-profit in LA. Yup, 4 to 5 nurses at a time working round the clock to take care of the babies so she can head out an get her nails done. Must be nice.
I am a triplet and one of my sisters has twins so I think multiples are not only fine, but perfectly normal. I'm not one of those people who lash out in the press and say that she should only have had one or two embryos implanted. I'm still confused about how she managed to pay for IVF but if she wanted more than one kid, that's fine by me. What scares me is that I could see her making a decision when told that she had 8 embryos that she would go ahead and risk the health of all of them so she could be the famous mother of the only living set of octuplets in the US.
Some other interesting tidbits:
- Some guy has come out saying that he thinks he is the biological father of the kids and wants a paternity test.
- She gained 130 pounds with the pregnancy. OMG! Can you imagine trying to lose that weight? I'm starting to feel OK about mine...
- 2 PR people have already quit on her. Craziness?
- Dr. Phil is trying to "help" her. I admit I haven't seen those shows so I would rely on my good friend Natalie who watches all things Dr. Phil to comment.
- It will take millions of dollars to raise these kids, especially if they have health or developmental issues. What are the odds that she won't end up on welfare?
- Her parents are divorced but still living together.
- Wikipedia entry
So what does everyone else think about this situation? Is Nadya legit or just another fame seeking American looking for a quick buck?
6 comments:
I have to say, I used to be all about reduction of fetuses until I read how they actually do it. I'm just not sure I could do it after having kids. Fortunately I will never be in that position as we are done with children!
The Momversation had a really great conversation on this topic and I agree with Dooce's beliefs - I just don't feel comfortable judging other people's decisions on whether or not they should have more kids. I know way too many people who can not afford the kids they have. While I think it is irresponsible and we waited until we could afford kids, if people want to live paycheck to paycheck and constantly struggle bc having kids is that important to them, so be it.
But... I still think she has issues. BIG issues. And fortunately, she can't bring the babies home until social services deems they will be cared for properly. We had to go through a dog and pony show to bring home two 36 weekers, and from what I've read, what she has to do to prove she can support them means she will most likely not be bringing them all home.
Just had to say that I read Jon & Kate's marriage is on the rocks. Supposedly Jon was seen wasted, playing beer pong, and hitting on co-eds at the local university....
-Tara
Okay, I have to comment - here goes. I am the mother of two beautiful children by IVF. First, the press is making it seem as if IVF is a sure thing. It is NOT! I went through 5 IVFs and several different protocols to have my first child. The doctor is unethical and she is crazy. All of her children are through IVF. She is obviously super fertile and the only issue she had was tubal. So, she had to use IVF to get pregnant. Why she kept going is insane. Second, the doctor had a choice to decide how many embryoes to transfer into her uterus (the embryoes do not automatically implant, this is a confused issue the press keeps stating. It takes a few more days before they actually implant). My doctors would not do the transfer unless I agreed to a specific number. If I wanted to go over that - they said NO! The live by the creed do NO harm. You might ask where is the harm - the 8 babies and the 6 she already had. Third, just the fact that this is so unethical and so ridiculous and costly, etc throws the entire IVF process and people who do it in the limelight and under criticism! I've even read that people who cannot have 'natural' children (like mine are made out of plastic) should not be allowed to have children. That people who are infertile do not deserve to have these treatments. Plus, this has gathered a storm of political weight, leading to POLITICIANS deciding on health care and science! I thought it was bad that health insurance companies were trying to do that. Just look up and see what is happening in Georgia if you don't believe me.
And if you say what should she have done with her extra embryoes that were frozen away other than use them for herself (after having 6 kids with one of them slightly autistic) - donate them to one of the many many infertile couples out there!
Those children and babies should be taken away from that woman and she should not be allowed to undergo anymore treatment. Additionally the doctor should be banned from practicing in any state. Lastly, we should all realize this has nothing to do with the 1 in 6 couples suffering some level of infertility (from needing clomid to needing donor eggs or donor sperm and IVF). We should not take away their dreams because of one insane woman and one unethical doctor. Okay - sorry to get on my soapbox here, but this really touches a raw nerve with me.
Thanks for your insight, Donna. IVF is definitely a great technology for infertile couples...it's the number that she implanted that concerned me as well. I'm not sure that the government should be the organization regulating number of embryos to be implanted but there should be something in place.
I believe that she "paid" for the IVF through the fact that her infertitily specialist is actually the father of the babies!
Dun, dun, dunt! I know it was already an episode of SVU, but I believe it to be totally plausible!
Donna- I am standing up and applauding your post. Well said. I agree 100%.
And I just want to add that I heard at first Octomom turned down the offer for the round-the-clock nursing care in order to try to get a better deal for a reality show. But apparently such a deal has not come along, so she went back and agreed to let the volunteers help. Ugh.
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