USA Today Editorial, Opinion Piece Examine Issues Related To Octuplet Birth

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Public Health
Article Date: 11 Feb 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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USA Today on Tuesday published an editorial and an opposing opinion piece debating issues related to the birth of octuplets to 33-year-old Nadya Suleman. Suleman, who has six other children, has said she became pregnant with the octuplets through in vitro fertilization. Summaries appear below.

~ USA Today: "If the nation is entering a new era of responsibility, Suleman -- and the fertility specialists who enabled her -- didn't get the memo," a USA Today editorial states, adding that the "[m]ost disturbing" aspect of the case is that Suleman "seemed not to grasp the consequences" in appearances on NBC's "Today Show" this week. The editorial says that the case raises questions "that go beyond one woman or freakish outcome," including the questions of whether medical guidelines were violated and if Suleman underwent a psychological evaluation prior to the IVF procedure. It also asks, "Who is paying the medical bills, likely to run into the millions of dollars, for mother and babies? How can 14 children under the age of eight be adequately cared for by someone so woefully unprepared?" The "only silver lining" surrounding the case would be if Suleman's story increased "public awareness of the dangers of large multiple births" -- risks that include maternal death, premature birth, gestational diabetes, hypertension and pre-eclampsia, according to the editorial. The editorial continues that fertility clinics "insist they work hard to avoid multiple births." The American Society for Reproductive Medicine and its partner group, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, in 1998 issued guidelines that were "intended to cut down on an alarming increase in multiple births resulting from fertility treatments" and recommended limiting the number of embryos transferred to one or two in women younger than age 35 and no more than five in women older than age 40. The editorial notes that there are no legal consequences for not adhering to these guidelines and "large incentives for unscrupulous practitioners to skirt them given the high failure rate of" IVF. ASRM says it plans to begin an inquiry into Suleman's case, and the Medical Board of California is currently investigating. The editorial concludes, "The Suleman octuplets deserve a loving and caring home, but their birth is no cause for celebration. Instead, it demonstrates how irresponsible it is -- for doctors and would-be parents -- to assume unacceptable risks just because medical science is able to push nature's boundaries" (USA Today, 2/10).

~ Joann Killeen/Michael Furtney: In an opposing opinion piece, Killeen and Furtney -- president and partner with the Killeen Furtney Group, the public relations firm representing Suleman -- write that they would "remind everyone that [Suleman] has committed no crime, and she fully intends to raise her children in a Christian, caring environment." They write that Suleman was "thrust into this situation because of an in vitro fertilization procedure used by women around the world," adding that the result of the procedure was "an almost unbelievable eight embryos that grew into the amazing family she now waits to bring home." Killeen and Furtney continue, "Those who would judge [Suleman] should reflect on Hillary Clinton's observation that 'it takes a village.'" They also write, "We are a nation famed for our tolerance and generosity, and we should share that with [Suleman] as we have with other multiple birth mothers before her," concluding that they are "hopeful that the America we grew up in will keep its door open" for the family (Killeen/Furtney, USA Today, 2/10).

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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