Octuplets Mother Riding The Wave In Bankrupt California

[Cicero]

Nadya Suleman, you just added eight more children to raise your total to 14. You're going to Disneyland.

"The eight babies _ six boys and two girls _ were delivered by cesarean section weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Forty-six physicians and staff assisted in the deliveries."

Job: 0
Husband. Divorced
Income: 0
Domicile: Lives with parents
Prospects: 0
Education: Cal State Fullerton B.S. "child and adolescent development"
Hospital costs: $100K per baby
Basic costs of raising child: $100K+
Total costs for 14 children: $4 million+

Medicare/welfare picked up by California tax payers: $5 million+?

Apparently, the IVF costs were paid for by either some undisclosed entity or Suleman used funds from a settlement?

 

[maxpower1227]

This lady is ridiculous, and makes me want to advocate for forced sterilization.

 

[Roma]

$5 million dollars ?! Well that's the price of having a free and democratic society I guess.

Personally I would send the young lass to China for a year or two and see how many babies she has, at least they'd fix the situation.

 

[BPSCG]

It's unclear how the IVF treatments were paid for. Seems the father is a friend of hers.

If she somehow paid for the IVF treaments out of her own pocket, this causes problems. I could see a doctor refusing to do the treatments if she were on Medicaid, especially if Medicaid doesn't cover IVF.

But if she paid for it, what's the doctor supposed to do (besides not implant 8 embryos in her? WTF was he thinking?)? Ask to see her bank statements and W-2 to make sure she'll be able to afford the kids?

 

[Nursefoxfire]

It's unclear how the IVF treatments were paid for. Seems the father is a friend of hers.

If she somehow paid for the IVF treaments out of her own pocket, this causes problems. I could see a doctor refusing to do the treatments if she were on Medicaid, especially if Medicaid doesn't cover IVF.

But if she paid for it, what's the doctor supposed to do (besides not implant 8 embryos in her? WTF was he thinking?)? Ask to see her bank statements and W-2 to make sure she'll be able to afford the kids?

[bolding mine]

It always staggers me how you need to provide proof of financial responsibility to, say, buy a car, but that doesn't seem to be a relevant concern when bringing a child (or eight) into the world.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

Ask to see her bank statements and W-2 to make sure she'll be able to afford the kids?

Yes. I think there should be some kind of home visit required too. I have no problem with people considering IVF having to go through a counseling session/screening process first. Where suicide is legal we require such a thing. I think people adopting a child have to show that they can afford to take proper care of the kid.

I'd go further than that. There are 6.7 billion people on the planet now. I think outlawing IVF and fertility drugs makes a heckuva lot of sense. (At the very least, it makes much more sense than abstinence-only sex education and gag rules placed on family planning money.)

 

[Cicero]

It's unclear how the IVF treatments were paid for. Seems the father is a friend of hers.

If she somehow paid for the IVF treaments out of her own pocket, this causes problems. I could see a doctor refusing to do the treatments if she were on Medicaid, especially if Medicaid doesn't cover IVF.

But if she paid for it, what's the doctor supposed to do (besides not implant 8 embryos in her? WTF was he thinking?)? Ask to see her bank statements and W-2 to make sure she'll be able to afford the kids?

I do not know if she had the procedure done out of the country, but she should have been on a criminally negligent reproductive mother list. The treatment was the least expensive part of this debacle. California obstetricians could have told her that without medical insurance, she would have to swim upstream to another state to spawn.

 

[Upchurch]

It always staggers me how you need to provide proof of financial responsibility to, say, buy a car, but that doesn't seem to be a relevant concern when bringing a child (or eight) into the world.

You need proof of financial responsibility to borrow money to buy a car. The car itself could be bought with cash and no credit check at all.

 

[al_capone_junior]

annoying

I too found this story quite annoying. Six kids not enough? How about 14? SURE!!

This is a clear case of procreation fever gone awry. Especially since it appears fertility drugs/treatments (in vitro) were most likely misused by the patient, as possibly by the doctor as well. The fact she's single and broke takes it over the top.

al

 

[Cicero]

You need proof of financial responsibility to borrow money to buy a car. The car itself could be bought with cash and no credit check at all.

Any reputable car dealer will run a customer's credit whether they pay cash, have their own financing, or go through the dealer's F&I department.

 

[Cicero]

You need proof of financial responsibility to borrow money to buy a car. The car itself could be bought with cash and no credit check at all.

 

[Nursefoxfire]

You need proof of financial responsibility to borrow money to buy a car. The car itself could be bought with cash and no credit check at all.

You're right, I mis-spoke. I was sort of winding two separate arguments into one thought and it didn't come out right.

I'm outraged that, fiscally, no one seems to have checked out her finances and determined that she'd be unable to pay for the care and upkeep of so many children (like one would if they were financing a car).

I'm also outraged that she has brought a total of 14 children into the world without there being any sort of thinking (on her part, and yes, on the part of the doctor who performed the IVF) about the logistics or merits of trying to raise that many.

Why can't people be sensible when thinking about bringing a child into the world? Where do the rights of the mother (the right to do what she wants with her body, i.e. having as many kids as she wants) trump the rights of society to say, "Enough! You can't keep having these kids that we are now going to have to pay for, because you don't have a job, or another member of the household who has a job, and you're broke."

And for crying out loud, what sort of life are those kids going to have? They'll get precious little parenting time, that's for sure.

My brother, a devout Mormon, has 9 kids. He and his wife are comfortably established (he's a lawyer with a good practice), she's had lots of training in the LDS on how to raise a family, etc...

Their kids, while all being loved, end up with limited amounts of time with the parents, the oldest children are required to take care of the younger (buddy system), and in fact the oldest daughter finally rebelled because she was expected to shoulder part of the parenting responsibilities when she hit 12 or so. The youngest kids are all VERY wild, they have little parental intervention and do all sorts of antics so they stand out from the crowd (like throwing rocks at the horses in our neighbor's pasture, running away, etc...)

I know everyone's parenting style is different. I also know that some parents can easily handle lots of kids, where others do a terrible job with just the one kid. But speaking from my own experience, I feel I barely have enough hours in the day to spend with my son and I cannot imagine spreading my time around to 4, or 6, or 8, or 14 children. I don't think I would be a good parent if I had a lot of children and couldn't devote enough time to each of them.

 

[Regnad Kcin]

Honestly, how soon before some portion of the brood is put up for adoption?

Oo, oo, I know! Auction several off on eBay! "Your chance to parent one of the famous octs!"

Hey, it worked for the virgin.

 

[BPSCG]

Okay, we all agree it's appalling. But how do you prevent it from happening again?

And let's try to stay within the bounds of the U.S. Constitution.

 

[Corsair 115]

I think this was just an attempt on the mother's part to get a reality show on TLC so as to display Jon and Kate plus Eight from the top spot on that network...

 

[Region Rat]

Let's see who jumps at the chance to throw money at this attention whore first....


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,486645,00.html

The mother of octuplets born in California last week is seeking $2 million from media interviews and commercial endorsements to help pay the costs of raising the children, the Times of London reported.

Although still confined to a Los Angeles hospital bed, Suleman reportedly intends to talk to two influential television hosts this week — media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer.

My money is on Oprah bailing her out.

 

[Texas]

I think this was just an attempt on the mother's part to get a reality show on TLC so as to display Jon and Kate plus Eight from the top spot on that network...

Ding;Ding;Ding

Point to Canada.

 

[shecky]

It's not completely clear at this point, but it seems the whole shebang was done under Kaiser, a large insurance/medical provider here in the West coast.

Okay, we all agree it's appalling. But how do you prevent it from happening again?

Appaling, yes. How do prevent it from happening? You don't. People should have as many kids as they want. Now, the folks paying into Kaiser certainly have a right to be pissed. Their premiums are paying for this nonsense. And a very pricey chunk of nonsense it is.

There doesn't seem to be any standard protocol regarding eligibility for fertility treatment as far as private insurance or private pay is involved. I don't think anybody really wants to go there. Generally, if one is paying out of pocket, it seems there will be some physician willing to go through this kind of scenario.

Apparently, a private insurer like Kaiser is willing to go through this also. Though given the cost and negative publicity, they may be motivated to quietly draft some guidelines for the future.

This sort of extreme multiple birth situation is often considered unethical. I have a feeling the mother refused to have selective terminations once they all took, which is generally the way these things work. At that point, the medical provider's hands are tied.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

Okay, we all agree it's appalling. But how do you prevent it from happening again?

And let's try to stay within the bounds of the U.S. Constitution.

I'm a huge civil-libertarian, but I don't see how there is a problem here.

Do you think the mandatory home visits and interviews of prospective adoptive parents presents a problem?

How about the requirement for a waiting period and several psych evaluations before allowing physician-assisted suicide (in the few places where it's even legal at all)?

I have no problem whatsoever of withholding fertility treatments if the person can't prove that they can be responsible parents. (I'm not asking for any more stringent requirements than exist for adoption.)

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

Ding;Ding;Ding

Point to Canada.

Surely you're not referning an exploitation precident are you?