Birth Of Octuplets Raises Concerns About Fertility Ethics, Editorial Says

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 09 Feb 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Although there are "important questions to be raised" following the news that a woman who already had six children gave birth to octuplets, allegedly through the use of fertility treatments, the questions "should be brought up by medical authorities and asked of the doctor or doctors who performed the serial in vitro procedures," a Los Angeles Times editorial says. The editorial adds that society "must guard against judging who is allowed to have children" and that the "rearing of children is a personal decision, unless there is mistreatment." However, that is "different from the medical considerations that should have played a part in the octuplets case," the editorial continues.

"The guidelines set down by medical organizations affect whether insurance will cover a procedure but carry little force otherwise," the editorial says, adding, "Clearly the field of fertility treatment needs more guidelines." Physicians have an "obligation to weigh the health risks to both mother and child," which are "considerable" with high-order multiples, the editorial continues. The "revelations" about the woman who gave birth to octuplets "have resulted in more derision than delight," the editorial says, adding that "she and her family will live with the consequences, happy or not. That's her business." However, "[c]urbing the potential for medical abuse ... is a matter of public concern," the editorial concludes (Los Angeles Times, 2/3).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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