<p>Listening to the mother makes it even more incredulous. She is going back to school? She is in la la land.</p>
<p>IMO, she won’t be able to cope well without reinjuring her back. She will literally have her own maternity ward there, plus 6 more young children. I feel so sorry for these kids.</p>
<p>This morning I was thinking about her oldest child. A 7 y/o is in school. When this child comes home is there a quiet place for this boy or girl to sit and do homework? Is there going to be a snack ready at 3:00pm? Is a parent going to be available to listen to this child talk about his/her day at school? Talk about connections! Mom says connections were not in her life. I hope she will be “connecting” with all of her children. I hope someone makes the time for the older children too!</p>
<p>And yes, the irony of her claim that her family was dysfunctional but yet she is going to rely on them for support with these babies.</p>
<p>Add in her rationale that she was an only child and wanted a big family with lots of kids…she already had six. That’s a big family right there.</p>
<p>soozie, re: post #343, isn’t that a slap in the face! I hope that she clarifies that comment!</p>
<p>northeastmom, let’s face it, this young woman is not rational! 
In one breath she stated that her upbringing is dysfunctional and in another, when asked how she will manage, she says it will be with the support of her family (and friends and church). Meanwhile, while she was in the hospital on bed rest all this time, she was comfortable enough to leave the six older ones in the care of her parents. </p>
<p>So much of her statements and behaviors are so off the wall, not just this one! </p>
<p>Did you hear her blame the criticism on the fact that she is a single mom? Let’s face it, even if she were married and had done this, the criticism also would have flowed. </p>
<p>Due to the negative response to her situation, she may not get the endorsements, etc. to fund the care of these kids. However, I am sure social services will have to get involved because the poor kids will need to be cared for somehow. While I don’t wish to see this woman helped, the kids didn’t ask for this situation. They will need help. I know I could not care for 14 under the age of 7 and let alone 8 infants at one time, particularly preemies. This situation is quite untenable and it will be interesting to see what will happen next when the kids are brought “home” (can’t imagine that house could even be set up for 14 kids, including 8 infants).</p>
<p>“I said to her, his hands are tied I am sure she could have sued him for not implanting…her body her choice.”</p>
<p>Definitely not true. This was an elective procedure and an extremely dangerous one. An eight-fetus pregnancy could easily kill a woman, never mind the fetuses. No doctor has the obligation to injure a healthy patient just because she asks him to.</p>
<p>This does occasionally come up in the psychiatric context. A patient believes that his hand, foot, whatever is evil and goes to a surgeon to request that the healthy appendage be removed. The surgeon can and does tell the patient “no” and refer him to a psychiatrist. There’s nothing to sue about.</p>
<p>Re big families: the only “families” in history with eight infants simultaneously were formed in orphanages. IMHO, the best-case scenario here would be a home life similar to a good orphanage. That’s not much of a best case, and at any rate, I don’t believe it’s going to turn out that well.</p>
<p>I agree with Hanna that the doctor was not required to implant that many embroyos if the procedure would put the mother or children at risk. </p>
<p>Just for the record, she is saying that six embroyos were implanted this time and two sets of twins created eight fetuses.</p>
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<p>Are you serious?! Was your grandfather an octuplet, with 6 barely older siblings, with no father, born to a mentally ill mother, and grandparents who recently filed for bankruptcy? Why should the general American public respect her choices, when these choices are based in mental illness? </p>
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<p>So now she will inflict her amplified need upon 14 helpless babies. And you are OK with this?</p>
<p>Soozie, I agree on all counts.</p>
<p>I agree with Hanna too. What happened to the oath a medical doctor takes about not doing harm?</p>
<p>My first reaction to watching the clip was that she is trying to be Angelina Jolie. It definitely looks like she had plastic surgery on her lips. Creepy. </p>
<p>Her receiving disabilty payments while caring for six small children seems like fraud to me. Unless her mother has been doing all the work, she could have at least worked a desk job.</p>
<p>I agree with blankmind’s response above to the earlier post. </p>
<p>It is apples to oranges. While I would not want a family that large, to each his own but having a family with a lot of kids like the poster’s grandfather was raised in is NOT the same as 8 infants at one time, with six others under age 7. If that grandfather was in a family of 14 children, it was likely spread out over at least 20 years. While I would not choose what the Duggar family has chosen, that is an example of a very large family where the children are spread out over time and older ones help raise younger ones and so on (and two parents too). Also, in this woman’s family, not only are 8 infants at one time, they are preemies and are bound to have some special needs. </p>
<p>Nobody is criticizing that she wanted a large family. Just because some of us did not elect a large family is not why anyone turns their nose up at those who want a lot of kids. It is a personal choice. But this young woman’s situation is not a normal decision. If she didn’t want just one or two kids, certainly six (like she already had) is a lot and a nice big family. But she also elected to have 14 under age 7. Not only that, she is in a situation where she cannot care for or afford these kids. She doesn’t have a job, a partner, her own home…let alone the mental health to do this. I have a husband, a job, a home, a graduate degree in Education and I could not raise 14 under age 7, including special needs kids and where 8 are infants (preemies) at one time as well.</p>
<p>I wonder if there was a consultation with an orthopedist and/or neurologist before implanting her with 6 or 8 embryos. Somehow I doubt it. I wonder if the fertility doctor knew about her spinal cord/back injuy prior to implanting her with all of those embryos.</p>
<p>Northeastmom, regarding #353…yeah, I wonder that too. Here she was on disability for a back injury and I wonder if the doc who implanted the embroyos knew of her back injury. </p>
<p>I mean I had lower back pain with ONE baby in utero, not 8, with no prior condition!</p>
<p>Electronblue,
That’s what I thought when I saw her on TV: She looks like Angelina Jolie.</p>
<p>"Northeastmom, regarding #353…yeah, I wonder that too. Here she was on disability for a back injury and I wonder if the doc who implanted the embroyos knew of her back injury. "</p>
<p>Maybe there was no back injury.</p>
<p>As for the comments about the option of her getting married before having kids, she has been married, but divorced him. She says he’s not her babies’ father. Her mother also says the baby’s father or someone else asked her to marry him, but she turned him down because she wants to be a single mom.</p>
<p>I think the woman is thinking like a young child. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who as a child planned to have lots of kids when I grew up so I’d have kids to play with. That’s the way kids, not adults think.</p>
<p>I don’t see her back problems as the “big” issue, but since she is the fertility doc’s patient, and she had such a “severe” injury that she qualified for disability payments, I question whether that doctor reviewed her medical records. I see that as a reason alone (not the main reason by a longshot btw) not to implant all of those embryos.</p>
<p>NSM, I cross posted w you. </p>
<p>About the childlike thinking, you may be right.</p>
<p>NSM, it very well may be that her “back injury” didn’t exist or was minor in reality. But she somehow was awarded the disability and so it seems as if something would be on her record even if her back is truly fine.</p>
<p>I think she’s in denial about the financial, logistical, and emotional difficulties of raising 14 children under 8 years old. She says she’ll have enough money to raise them once she finishes school. How much money do you need to raise 14 children, especially with a set of octuplets?! Plenty of people are struggling financially to raise 2 kids.</p>
<p>This has probably been answered, but I’ll ask again - what is the situation with her health insurance?</p>