Octuplets born 'screaming and kicking' in Calif.

[samanthajane13]

BELLFLOWER, Calif. – A woman gave birth to eight babies in Southern California on Monday, the world's second live-born set of octuplets.

The mother, who was not identified, gave birth to six boys and two girls weighing between 1.8 pounds and 3.4 pounds, doctors at Kaiser Permanante hospital told KCAL9.

"It's a surprise," Dr. Karen Maples said. "Eight newborns are in stable condition and they're doing quite well."

Kaiser spokeswoman Myra Suarez said she could not release any information about the mother, including her condition or whether she used fertility drugs. Such drugs make multiple births more likely.

"They are all doing the best they can," Suarez told the AP.

Doctors estimated the delivery of the babies lasted five minutes.

"They were all screaming and kicking around very vigorously," Dr. Harold Henry told the TV station.

The first live-born octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, and one baby died about a week later. The surviving siblings — girls Ebuka, Gorom, Chidi, Chima and Echerem, and their brothers Ikem and Jioke — celebrated their 10th birthday in December.

Their parents, Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi, said they are astonished and grateful that their children have grown up to be healthy and active kids who are now in the fourth grade.

Chukwu said the new parents have much to look forward to.

"Just enjoy it. It's a blessing, truly a blessing," Chukwu said. "We'll keep praying for them."

(This version CORRECTS babies are 6 boys and 2 girls, sted reverse.)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090127/...alif_octuplets

[One2Snoop]

WOW! I wish them luck.

[RayStar]

They will need a lot of luck, assistance and patience.

[SaraSidle]

Originally Posted by RayStar

They will need a lot of luck, assistance and patience.

I cannot believe how busy they are going to be!!!! Congratulations

[samanthajane13]

Octuplets born in California doing 'very well'
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press Writer – 28 mins ago

BELLFLOWER, Calif. – The octuplets born to a mother in Southern California are doing "very, very well" and breathing on their own, one of their doctors said Tuesday.

Dr. Mandhir Gupta, a neonatologist at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center, told ABC's "Good Morning America" the eight babies were in stable condition.

Two of the newborns — the second live octuplets born in U.S. history — were initially put on ventilators, but their breathing tubes have been removed.

"Only three babies need some sort of oxygen through the nose right now but they are breathing on their own," Gupta said. "The babies are doing actually very, very well."

The mother, who was not identified, gave birth Monday to the six boys and two girls weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces, and 3 pounds, 4 ounces. The eighth baby was a surprise to the parents and doctors who had been expecting only seven children.

"It is quite easy to miss a baby when you're anticipating seven," said Dr. Harold Henry, chief of maternal and fetal medicine and one of 46 doctors, nurses and assistants who delivered the children by Caesarean section.

Just five minutes after the first birth, the unexpected eighth baby came out at 10:48 a.m. "My eyes were wide," said Dr. Karen Maples, chief of the department of obstetrics and gynecology.

Maples said the mother was "very comfortable now. She is currently stable and we're observing her. She's also very excited about the health of her babies and she's extremely happy."

Doctors said they repeatedly conducted practice sessions in anticipation of the deliveries and were well prepared. Maples credited that with the ability to handle the unexpected eighth baby. "It was wonderful just knowing that our teamwork paid off," she said.

The babies — dubbed with the letters A-through-H — will probably remain in the hospital for at least two months and the mother should be released in a week, said Maples. The most encouraging news was that the smallest — Baby E, a boy weighing just 1 pound, 8 ounces — no longer needed a ventilator. Gupta described him as "very feisty" on Tuesday.

The doctors cautioned that there is still the possibility that one or more of the octuplets may need a breathing tube again, and more dangers await when they begin feeding.

The mother checked into the hospital in her 23rd week of pregnancy and gave birth to the premature babies seven weeks later. Gupta said the woman was given spinal anesthesia and could hear the babies as they came out.

The world's first live octuplets were born in March 1967 in Mexico City, but all died within 14 hours, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

The United States' first live octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, three months premature. The tiniest died a week after the birth. The surviving siblings turned 10 in December.

Their parents, Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi, told The Associated Press that they were delighted to hear another mother managed the same feat.

"It's a blessing, truly a blessing," Chukwu said. "We'll keep praying for them."

Dr. Richard Paulson, director of the fertility program at the University of Southern California, said the latest births likely resulted from the use of fertility drugs. Hospital officials would not say whether the mother had used such aids.

Paulson said the children could face serious health risks, including breathing problems and neurological damage. The mother also has an increased risk of hemorrhage, Paulson said.

"It's a risky decision to try to have all eight babies," said Paulson, who had no role in the delivery. "I would not recommend it under any circumstances, but I respect a parent's decision."

The Bellflower medical center, located about 17 miles southeast of Los Angeles, has an advanced neonatal unit. The most infants previously delivered at the hospital was five, the Los Angeles Times said.

The birth took a lot out of more than just the mother. Maples, who helped deliver the brood, said that when she got home: "I was humbled, I was exhausted and I took a nap."

___

Associated Press writers Denise Petski and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090127/...ther_octuplets

[samanthajane13]

8 is plenty: Mother gives birth to octuplets
By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer John Rogers, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 27, 9:22 pm ET



BELLFLOWER, Calif. – Just think: eight cribs, eight highchairs, eight strollers (or maybe four double-strollers), and far too many dirty diapers to count. A woman in Southern California gave birth Monday to the second set of octuplets ever delivered alive in the United States.

Doctors described the six boys and two girls as a feisty bunch who made their entrance kicking and crying and seemed to be doing remarkably well, despite arriving nine weeks premature. They ranged in weight from 1 pound, 8 ounces, to 3 pounds, 4 ounces.

"We were fortunate that this patient was extremely strong, very courageous and able to handle these births," said Dr. Karen E. Maples, who is chief of service for obstetrics and gynecology at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center and delivered Baby No. 8.

No pictures of the children were released, and at the mother's request doctors declined to reveal her name, any information about her family or whether she took fertility drugs before becoming pregnant, though outside experts said it is almost certain she did.

The chances of delivering eight babies naturally are "unbelievably rare," said Dr. Richard Paulson, director of the fertility program at the University of Southern California.

The babies have not been named yet, and the staff assigned them letters A through H in the meantime. They were expected to remain hospitalized for several weeks and could face serious developmental problems later on because of their small size.

"They are doing amazingly well at this time," said Dr. Mandhir Gupta, a neonatologist who was part of the team of 46 doctors, nurses and others who took part in the cesarean section delivery. But he added: "I won't be able to comment on chances of survival because we've never had eight babies born at 30 weeks before."

The odds of survival drop off dramatically in multiple births, particularly if there are more than three babies. The risks include breathing and eating difficulties and growth problems because their lungs and other systems are often underdeveloped. They also may have hearing or vision problems and learning disabilities as they mature.

In fact, the risks in multiple births are so high that when a woman is pregnant with more than three babies, doctors routinely recommend "selective reduction," or aborting some of them. But Dr. Harold M. Henry, director of maternal-fetal medicine for the hospital, would not discuss what took place in this case.

The babies were still in incubators and their mother had not been able to hold them yet. Three had oxygen tubes up their noses to help them breathe. The first four were expected to begin taking milk sometime Tuesday, with the others shortly after that.

"That's the biggest test," Gupta said. "We want to make sure that they start tolerating and digesting the milk."

The woman and her doctors were actually expecting seven children, not eight. The delivery team was thinking the hard work was over after that seventh baby was removed from the womb, when another physician spotted another little hand, Maples said.

The mother reacted calmly to the news, said Dr. Jalil Riazi, an anesthesiologist. "Her question was, 'Really, an eighth baby? How did we miss that baby?'" he said.

The mother had checked into the hospital in her 23rd week and spent nearly two months working with doctors in preparation for the big day. Mainly she got a lot of bed rest, Maples said, while the medical team repeatedly conducted practice sessions.

As word of the births spread people began to call with offers of cribs, strollers, baby clothes and other items, said hospital spokeswoman Carmen Gonzalez.

"We're compiling a list of things that people want to donate," she said, adding the mother will review the list and decide what she needs.

The world's first live octuplets were born in 1967 in Mexico City, but all died within 14 hours, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

The United States' first live octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, three months premature. The tiniest died a week after the birth. The surviving siblings turned 10 in December and were reported to be doing well by their mother.

"It's wonderful watching them be together. They are happy to have each other. They're doing their homework right now," Nkem Chukwu said Monday.

___

Associated Press Science Writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/...e_us/octuplets

[samanthajane13]

5 of California's octuplets start bottle feeding
By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, Associated Press Writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 10 mins ago

BELLFLOWER, Calif. – Five of the octuplets born to a Southern California woman have begun bottle feeding on formula.

Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center spokeswoman Socorro Serrano says bottle feeding of the other three babies is expected to begin later Wednesday.

Serrano says the six boys and two girls born Monday are all breathing on their own and the mother is also doing well.

The spokeswoman says the mother, whose identity remains a secret, has begun pumping breast milk in anticipation of eight hungry babies.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/...e_us/octuplets

[RayStar]

It has just been reported that the mother has six other children. I saw it at freep.com this morning. I wonder why she risked so much when she already had children. I think for those who need a link google may have some updated information.

[dan_uk]

o m g 14 kids

[samanthajane13]

YUP-You got that right!!!

Here's an article...

Family: Octuplets' mother has 6 other children
By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer Thomas Watkins, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 30, 7:12 am ET



WHITTIER, Calif. – The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week has six other children and never expected to have eight more when she took fertility treatment, her mother said.

Angela Suleman said her daughter expects a big challenge raising 14 children. The good news, she said, is all the babies appear healthy.

"I looked at those babies. They are so tiny and so beautiful," Suleman told The Los Angeles Times on Thursday.

Suleman's daughter gave birth to the octuplets Monday at a hospital in Bellflower but has requested that doctors keep her name confidential. Media knew little about the woman until a family acquaintance told CBS' "The Early Show" on Thursday that the mother is "fairly young" and lives with her parents and her six children.

Within hours, media had camped out at the family's home in Whittier, where the babies' grandfather pulled up in a minivan in the evening and briefly spoke to The Associated Press. Beside him were two children — a 7-year-old and 6-year-old — who said they were excited to have eight new siblings.

But the grandfather warned that media may have a tougher time finding the family after the babies are released from the hospital.

"We have a huge house, not here," said the man, who would only identify himself as Ed. "You are never going to know where it is."

The mother also has two children, ages 5 and 3, and 2-year-old twins, neighbors told the Times.

Suleman said her daughter had embryos implanted last year, and after finding out she was pregnant with multiple babies was given the option by doctors of selectively reducing the number of embryos. The woman declined.

"What do you suggest she should have done? She refused to have them killed," Suleman told the Times. "That is a very painful thing."

Dr. Harold Henry said the woman was already pregnant when she came to Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center, and she was counseled about the risks of her pregnancy and on the option of aborting some of the fetuses. Doctors had been expecting only seven babies, but an eighth was born in the cesarean delivery.

The six boys and two girls, the second octuplets born alive in the United States, have garnered worldwide attention as media have attempted to find out more about the mother and her family. Hours after media gathered outside the Whittier home, Kaiser issued a statement on behalf of the mother requesting privacy.

"Please know, in our own time, we will share additional details about this miraculous experience," the statement read. "The babies continue to grow strong everyday and make good progress. My family and I are ecstatic about all of their arrivals. Needless to say the eighth was a surprise to us all, but a blessing as well."

Dr. Mandhir Gupta said seven of the babies were breathing without assistance. One was still receiving oxygen through a tube in his nose.

Seven of the infants were being tube-fed donated breast milk. One of the boys was expected to begin feedings Friday.

All babies continued to receive an intravenous nutritional combination. They were expected to remain in the hospital for several more weeks.

Some fertility specialists have said the children face increased health risks because they are octuplets and born nine weeks premature. At birth, they ranged between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces.

Doctors say they advise against higher-order births, but acknowledge the decision is not theirs to make.

"Who am I to say that six is the limit?" said Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, medical director of Fertility Institutes, which has clinics in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York City. "There are people who like to have big families."

Dr. James Grifo, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the NYU School of Medicine, added: "I don't think it's our job to tell them how many babies they're allowed to have. I am not a policeman for reproduction in the United States. My role is to educate patients."

___

Associated Press writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Bellflower and AP science writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/...e_us/octuplets

[Gatordog]

From what I saw on the news yesterday, the mother is a single parent, living with her parents in a small home. She does already have six children. I question the ethics of the doctor who implanted the eggs. I also question how they are going to feed these children, send them to school, clothe them etc. It makes me wonder if she wanted all those children just to get a television show like that family in Arkansas or Jon and Kate makes eight.

Gator

[samanthajane13]

"From what I saw on the news yesterday, the mother is a single parent, living with her parents in a small home. She does already have six children. I question the ethics of the doctor who implanted the eggs. I also question how they are going to feed these children, send them to school, clothe them etc. It makes me wonder if she wanted all those children just to get a television show like that family in Arkansas or Jon and Kate makes eight."


Yeah...kinda makes me wanna PUKE!

"Gots to have me a mess o' babies so I can cash in on all that FREE STUFF!!! And maybe a TV SHOW!!! Then I'll just put them ALL on PUBLIC ASSISTANCE!!!"

Reminds me of this really slummy family that lived in my neighborhood-the LoCoccos. They had like 11 kids who'd be going door to door begging for pop cans they could turn in for deposit, food, etc. The parents and half the kids were on SSI, and one of the little girls has Spina bifida.

The moved out of our neighborhood and took ip in one of the suburbs, were buying cellphones for kids in the neighborhood, the hubby had like 5 motorcycles, and one day they were busted for child neglect, having a FILTHY HOUSE, and anything else the authorities could throw at them and get to stick.

All the kids were divided up and sent to foster care, but whined that they loved momma and daddy, and they were well cared for.

Don't you know...momma was pregnant and gave birth to MORE kids. And don't believe in BIRTH CONTROL, 'cuz it DOESN'T WORK!!

Take them to a veterinarian clinic. SPAY MOMMA LIKE A DOG AND LOP DADDY'S JEWELS OFF!! For cripes sake-I bet ya THAT would work!!!

They're out at every Right To Life rally in WNY, and that poor sweet little girl with Spina bifida is always toting a sign...

Makes me SICK!!!

[samanthajane13]

8 Is Enough: The Limits to Human Reproduction
Meredith F. Small
LiveScience's Human Nature Columnist
LiveScience.com meredith F. Small
livescience's Human Nature Columnist
livescience.com – Fri Jan 30, 9:35 am ET

Eight kids at once. The mind boggles. The mind is also pretty creeped out by the thought of one tiny baby after another coming out of a woman as if she were a mouse.

It's great those octuplets are here and healthy, but really, humans aren't designed to have litters.

It's basic energetics. Every individual has only so much energy. Some energy is spent staying alive - that is, finding food and not being somebody else's food - and what's left over can be spent on reproduction. In other words, there are limits to reproduction.

Of course, the various slices of that reproductive energy pie also vary between males and female of all species. Males don't gestate or lactate so they pass on the most genes by flitting from female to female making as many babies as they can, and then walking away. The female reproductive pie is much more complex. There are costs to pregnancy, lactation for mammals, and then whatever else is needed to bring a kid up to sexual maturity so they can pass on genes as well.

But there are all sorts of ways, from an evolutionary point of view, for females of a species to distribute that energy and bring up babies successfully. She might have as many babies as she can in one shot, litters that is, and have them as often as possible. For that kind of female, reproduction is an assembly line of cheap production per kid. Or a female might opt for the other end of the scale and make one baby at a time and wait for a very long time to see if that one investment pays off.

Obviously, humans are on slow side of the baby production continuum. Evolution has selected for this path because there are features of our species that require great investment by mothers. Human infants might have big brains compared to other mammals, but they need to get even bigger once outside the womb. And so human infants are actually born neurologically unfinished. They can't cling, sit up, feed themselves, or run from predators. And so the very nature of what it takes to be an adult human puts constraints on how many children a mother can have at a time.

Take a look at a naked woman and see for yourself how many babies a woman is designed to care for - two, at most.

In fact our babies need so much that human fathers, too, have been selected to stop fooling around and to stay at home with one female if they want to see their genes go forward. The evolution of the human family is not about men and women deciding to make a commitment; it's really about the dependency of our children.

And we are so used to this system that we can't help but stare in awe at twins and scream in shock at octuplets. It doesn't seem right to have that many kids at once because it isn't right in the evolutionary sense. That family will surely have help beyond the mother and father, and they will all probably have a great time, but chances are it will be a very long time before that mother reproduces again.

Meredith F. Small is an anthropologist at Cornell University. She is also the author of "Our Babies, Ourselves; How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent" and "The Culture of Our Discontent; Beyond the Medical Model of Mental Illness".


http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...dJNpmB4qthr7sF

[deputydi]

Originally Posted by samanthajane13

"From what I saw on the news yesterday, the mother is a single parent, living with her parents in a small home. She does already have six children. I question the ethics of the doctor who implanted the eggs. I also question how they are going to feed these children, send them to school, clothe them etc. It makes me wonder if she wanted all those children just to get a television show like that family in Arkansas or Jon and Kate makes eight."

<snip>

I had to peek in here just to see what people were saying. When I heard this woman was a single parent with six other children at home (which, incidentally, is her mother and father's home -- not hers) I was angry.

Guess who is going to end up paying for this woman's litter. You and me and all the other hard working taxpayers who have sense enough to know that 14 is too many!!! How do you suppose she's going to feed, clothe and educate all these children without help from Uncle Sam and the American public? This is disgusting and the doctor who agreed to this invitro should be prosecuted.

[One2Snoop]

Originally Posted by deputydi

I had to peek in here just to see what people were saying. When I heard this woman was a single parent with six other children at home (which, incidentally, is her mother and father's home -- not hers) I was angry.

Guess who is going to end up paying for this woman's litter. You and me and all the other hard working taxpayers who have sense enough to know that 14 is too many!!! How do you suppose she's going to feed, clothe and educate all these children without help from Uncle Sam and the American public? This is disgusting and the doctor who agreed to this invitro should be prosecuted.

ITA deputy - it disgusts me to no end. I'm glad all the babies are doing well but this entire situation is just wrong.

[samanthajane13]

Correction-the family I was talking about in Buffalo now has 14 kids.

Here's an interesting little read from the Erie County Court regarding their trial...

http://assigned.org/lococo%20decision.pdf

And here's the latest installment on this freak show...

Make that 14: Octuplet mom already had 6 kids
By THOMAS WATKINS and LAURAN NEERGAARD, Associated Press Writers Thomas Watkins And Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press Writers – 2 hrs 1 min ago



WHITTIER, Calif. – How in the world does a woman with six children get a fertility doctor to help her have more — eight more? An ethical debate erupted Friday after it was learned that the Southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets this week had six children already.

Large multiple births "are presented on TV shows as a 'Brady Bunch' moment. They're not," fumed Arthur Caplan, bioethics chairman at the University of Pennsylvania. He noted the serious and sometimes lethal complications and crushing medical costs that often come with high-multiple births.

But Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, who has fertility clinics in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York, countered: "Who am I to say that six is the limit? There are people who like to have big families."

Kaiser Permanente announced the mega-delivery Monday, with delighted doctors saying they had initially expected seven babies and were surprised when the cesarean section yielded an eighth.

Multiple births this big are considered impossible without fertility treatment, but the doctors who delivered the babies would not say whether the 33-year-old woman had used fertility drugs or had embryos implanted in her womb.

However, the children's grandmother, Angela Suleman, was quoted as telling the Los Angeles Times that her daughter had embryos implanted last year, and never intended to give birth to eight, but "they all happened to take." Suleman said her daughter rejected an offer from doctors to abort some of the embryos.

More common among younger women is the use of fertility drugs that stimulate egg production; doctors are supposed to monitor budding eggs and stop the drugs if too many develop.

Some medical experts were disturbed to hear that the woman was offered fertility treatment, and troubled by the possibility that she was implanted with so many embryos.

Dr. David Adamson, former president of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, said he was bracing for some backlash against his specialty.

In 30 years of practice, "I have never provided fertility treatment to a woman with six children," or ever heard of a similar case, said Adamson, director of Fertility Physicians of Northern California.

Women seeking fertility treatment are routinely asked to give a detailed history of prior pregnancies and births, and "it's a very realistic question to ask about someone who has six children: How does this fit into the concept of requiring fertility treatment?" Adamson said.

The woman's fertility doctor has not been identified. The hospital has not released the mother's name, citing her desire for privacy. There was no immediate information on whether she is married or who the father of the babies is. Her six other children range in age from 2 to 7.

Records show that she held a psychiatric technician's license from 1997 to 2002. It was unclear whether she is now employed.

It was only the second time in U.S. history that eight babies survived more than a few hours after birth. The six boys and two girls were said to be in remarkably good condition but were expected to remain in the hospital for several more weeks.

The mother of the octuplets lives with her parents in a modest, single-story home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Whittier, a Los Angeles suburb of about 85,000. Children's bicycles, a pink car and a wagon were scattered in the yard and driveway.

On Thursday night, the children's grandfather came to the door and angrily told reporters to leave the property.

Court records show Angela Suleman filed for bankruptcy last March, but after she failed to make required payments and appear at a creditors' meeting, the case was dismissed. She reported liabilities of $981,371, mostly money owed on two houses she owns in Whittier.

The births were a hot topic of conversation on the Internet, with many people incredulous that a woman with six children would try to have more — and that a doctor would help her do so. Some criticized the doctor and suggested that the mother would be overwhelmed trying to raise her brood and would end up relying on public support.

Jessica Zepeda, who identified herself as a friend of the mother, said the woman and family would have enough money to raise 14 children. "She is not on welfare," Zepeda said. "She is an awesome mom, and will be able to take care of her babies."

Several doctors said it is not their role to dictate family size.

"I am not a policeman for reproduction in the United States. My role is to educate patients," said Dr. James Grifo, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the New York University School of Medicine.

But Caplan said not enough attention is paid to the well-being of the children in high-multiple births. Such babies are often premature and underdeveloped, and are almost always found to have some health problem.

Caplan said everyone has a stake in mega-multiple births because they cause insurance premiums to rise when hospitals cannot get reimbursed for the huge costs such babies incur, and because those with disabilities typically require social services.

"To say all you need is cash and the will to have more kids should not be a sufficient standard to access services," he said. "It is insufficient for adoption. It isn't sufficient to be a foster parent. Why would it be sufficient to run down to the fertility clinic to get embryos transplanted or super-ovulated?"

A few years ago, Caplan and others did a survey of U.S. fertility clinics. They found few had policies for deciding whether to help a woman get pregnant. Most clinics said they had patients meet with financial coordinators, but only 18 percent had them see a social worker or psychologist.

With in vitro fertilization, doctors frequently implant more than one embryo to improve the odds that one will take. Mothers-to-be who are found to be pregnant with several babies are given the option of aborting some of them to increase the chances the others will survive.

The U.S. fertility industry has guidelines on how many embryos doctors can implant, with the number varying by age and other factors. The guidelines call for no more than one or two for a generally healthy woman under 35, and no more than three to five, depending on the embryos' maturity, for women over 40.

If eight embryos were implanted at once, that is "well beyond our guidelines," Dr. R. Dale McClure, president of the reproductive medicine society, said in a statement.

Clinics that clearly violate guidelines can be kicked out of another group, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, which in turn affects whether insurance covers their services. But the guidelines do not have the force of law.

___

Thomas Watkins reported from Whittier, while Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard reported from Washington. AP writers Alicia Chang and Jacob Adelman in Los Angeles and Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London contributed to this story.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/...e_us/octuplets

[samanthajane13]

Grandma: Octuplets mom obsessed with having kids
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 1 min ago



LOS ANGELES – The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week conceived all 14 of her children through in vitro fertilization, is not married and has been obsessed with having children since she was a teenager, her mother said.

Angela Suleman told The Associated Press she was not supportive when her daughter, Nadya Suleman, decided to have more embryos implanted last year.

"It can't go on any longer," she said in a phone interview Friday. "She's got six children and no husband. I was brought up the traditional way. I firmly believe in marriage. But she didn't want to get married."

Nadya Suleman, 33, gave birth Monday in nearby Bellflower. She was expected to remain in the hospital for at least a few more days, and her newborns for at least a month.

A spokeswoman at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center said the babies were doing well and seven were breathing unassisted.

While her daughter recovers, Angela Suleman is taking care of the other six children, ages 2 through 7, at the family home in Whittier, about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

She said she warned her daughter that when she gets home from the hospital, "I'm going to be gone."

Angela Suleman said her daughter always had trouble conceiving and underwent in vitro fertilization treatments because her fallopian tubes are "plugged up."

There were frozen embryos left over after her previous pregnancies and her daughter didn't want them destroyed, so she decided to have more children.

Her mother and doctors have said the woman was told she had the option to abort some of the embryos and, later, the fetuses. She refused.

Her mother said she does not believe her daughter will have any more children.

"She doesn't have any more (frozen embryos), so it's over now," she said. "It has to be."

Nadya Suleman wanted to have children since she was a teenager, "but luckily she couldn't," her mother said.

"Instead of becoming a kindergarten teacher or something, she started having them, but not the normal way," he mother said.

Her daughter's obsession with children caused Angela Suleman considerable stress, so she sought help from a psychologist, who told her to order her daughter out of the house.

"Maybe she wouldn't have had so many kids then, but she is a grown woman," Angela Suleman said. "I feel responsible and I didn't want to throw her out."

Yolanda Garcia, 49, of Whittier, said she helped care for Nadya Suleman's autistic son three years ago.

"From what I could tell back then, she was pretty happy with herself, saying she liked having kids and she wanted 12 kids in all," Garcia told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

"She told me that all of her kids were through in vitro, and I said 'Gosh, how can you afford that and go to school at the same time?"' she added. "And she said it's because she got paid for it."

Garcia said she did not ask for details.

Nadya Suleman holds a 2006 degree in child and adolescent development from California State University, Fullerton, and as late as last spring she was studying for a master's degree in counseling, college spokeswoman Paula Selleck told the Press-Telegram.

Her fertility doctor has not been identified. Her mother told the Los Angeles Times all the children came from the same sperm donor but she declined to identify him.

Birth certificates reviewed by The Associated Press identify a David Solomon as the father for the four oldest children. Certificates for the other children were not immediately available.

The news that the octuplets' mother already had six children sparked an ethical debate. Some medical experts were disturbed to hear that she was offered fertility treatment, and troubled by the possibility that she was implanted with so many embryos.

Others worried that she would be overwhelmed trying to raise so many children and would end up relying on public support.

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.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090131/...e_us/octuplets

[samanthajane13]

"And she said it's because she got paid for it."


HUH????

Okay-what idiot PAID this moron to have these babies???? And WHY????

At least she's out of embryos...

[Drumbum]

I think she has a severe mental disorder and should get some help. Few cans short of a sixer? Yup.

[SaraSidle]

Originally Posted by Drumbum

I think she has a severe mental disorder and should get some help. Few cans short of a sixer? Yup.

hey drummy have you thought about going over there to help at all? Kind of like a nannemale? I am so sure those boys need a male model to look up to.

[samanthajane13]

Octuplets mom expected to have no more than twins


LOS ANGELES – The mother who gave birth to octuplets acknowledged in an interview aired Monday that she was "fixated" on having children but said she never expected to have more than twins in her latest pregnancy.

Nadya Suleman had four single births and one set of twins through in-vitro fertilization before her history-making pregnancy, but she told NBC's "Today" show that for each of her six pregnancies, six embryos were implanted.

"I know now that I may or may not have really deep down wanted that many siblings, but at the time I was so focused and fixated on wanting so many that I just kept going," she said.

"Today" anchor Ann Curry then asked if Suleman "deluded" herself into thinking her six older children wanted a bigger family.

"Not really deluded myself, but I knew that's what I wanted," Suleman said in the interview, which was conducted Thursday.

Suleman, who gave birth to the octuplets Jan. 26, also identified the clinic involved, West Coast IVF in Beverly Hills. She said one doctor helped her conceive all 14 of her children.

She did not name the doctor, but KTLA-TV of Los Angeles on Monday aired video it shot in 2006 of Dr. Michael Kamrava from the clinic treating Suleman and discussing the implantation process.

Without identifying the doctor, the Medical Board of California said last week it was looking into the matter to see if there was a "violation of the standard of care" for implanting so many embryos.

The medical board's Web site lists no previous actions taken against Kamrava by the state.

Kamrava did not immediately return a pager message left by The Associated Press and a receptionist at the clinic said he was not giving interviews.

Medical ethicists have expressed shock that a doctor would implant so many embryos. National guidelines put the norm at two to three embryos for a woman of Suleman's age in order to lessen the health risks to the mother and the chances of multiple births.

Suleman, 33, of Whittier, told Curry that her doctor "did nothing wrong" and had warned her of possible complications to the pregnancy and risks to the babies' development.

Suleman said she had six embryos implanted for each of her five previous pregnancies. The octuplets were a surprise result of her last set of six embryos, she said, explaining she had expected twins at most.

She told NBC she always wanted a huge family to make up for the isolation she felt as an only child.

Kamrava is a well-known fertility specialist who pioneered a method for implanting embryos directly into the uterine lining.

Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, a professional acquaintance, said Kamrava worked to develop an embryo transfer device that allows doctors to implant an embryo — or sometimes sperm with an unfertilized egg — directly into the uterine lining using a plastic capsule.

"Usually we inject the embryos into the uterus and they float around and attach themselves," said Steinberg.

It was not immediately known if the technique was used on Suleman. Steinberg said there was no evidence the method improved success rates for pregnancy.

On Sunday, Suleman's mother seemed to contradict her daughter's statement that one doctor was involved in all 14 births. Angela Suleman told a Web site the fertility specialist who helped her daughter give birth to the octuplets was different from the one who aided in the birth of her first six children.

In an interview with celebrity news Web site RadarOnline.com, Angela Suleman said she and her ex-husband pleaded with Nadya's first fertility doctor not to treat their daughter again. She said her daughter went to another doctor.

"I'm really angry about that," Angela Suleman said of the doctor's decision to perform the procedure.

"She already has six beautiful children, why would she do this?" Angela Suleman said. "I'm struggling to look after her six. We had to put in bunk beds, feed them in shifts and there's children's clothing piled all over the house."

The Web site posted photographs from inside Angela Suleman's disheveled three-bedroom home, where Nadya and her six older children also live. Heaps of clothing pour from an open closet door and a carpeted bedroom, where a bedsheet serves as a curtain, is cluttered with cribs.

Angela Suleman said Nadya's boyfriend was the biological father of all 14 children, but that she refused to marry him.

"He was in love with her and wanted to marry her," she said. "But Nadya wanted to have children on her own."

Nadya Suleman's publicist Mike Furtney did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment Monday. He said late Sunday that his client has been away for nearly two months, so she shouldn't be held responsible for the home's current condition.

Furtney said his client planned to move into a larger home once the octuplets were healthy enough to leave their doctors' care.

He declined to comment on any of the remarks Angela Suleman made about her daughter in the interview.

"Those are very personal issues between a mother and a daughter," he said.

(This version corrects that Angela Suleman is divorced from Nadya Suleman's father.)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090209/...e_us/octuplets

[samanthajane13]

Octuplet mom was treated at Beverly Hills clinic
By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, Associated Press Writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 3 mins ago



LOS ANGELES – The mother of octuplets was implanted with those embryos at a Beverly Hills fertility clinic run by a well-known — and controversial — specialist who pioneered a method of implantation.

Dr. Michael Kamrava's name emerged Monday as a result of an interview aired Monday on NBC with Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to eight babies Jan. 26.

Over the past two weeks, the identity of Suleman's fertility doctor has been a source of great mystery because of questions over the ethics of implanting numerous embryos in a woman who already had six children.

Kamrava, 57, would not comment on the issue, but told reporters outside his clinic on Rodeo Drive that he had granted an interview to one of the television networks. When asked to provide more detail, he said, "Watch the news."

Without identifying the doctor, the Medical Board of California said last week it was looking into the Suleman case to see if there was a "violation of the standard of care." The medical board said Monday it has not taken any disciplinary action against Kamrava in the past.

In the NBC interview, Suleman did not identify her doctor by name, but said that she went to the West Coast IVF Clinic in Beverly Hills — of which Kamrava is director — and that all 14 of her children were conceived with help from the same doctor. In 2006, Los Angeles TV station KTLA ran a story on infertility that showed Kamrava treating Suleman and discussing embryo implantation.

Kamrava graduated from the University of Illinois and went to medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, according to state records and his Web site.

Some fertility specialists said Kamrava is a controversial figure in the field.

"He's tried some novel techniques and some of those methods have been controversial," said Dr. John Jain, founder of Santa Monica Fertility Specialists.

Jain criticized the decision to implant so many embryos, saying: "I do think that this doctor really stepped outside the guidelines in a very extreme manner, and as such, put both the mother and children at extra high risk of disability and even death."

Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, a professional acquaintance of Kamrava's, said Kamrava worked to develop an embryo transfer device that allows doctors to implant an embryo — or sometimes sperm with an unfertilized egg — directly into the uterine lining.

"Usually we inject the embryos into the uterus and they float around and attach themselves," Steinberg said. However, Steinberg said there was no evidence the method improved success rates for pregnancy.

It was not immediately known if the technique was used on Suleman.

Suleman said she had six embryos implanted for each of her pregnancies. The octuplets were a surprise result of her last set of six embryos, she said, explaining she had expected twins at most. Two of the embryos evidently divided in the womb.

Medical ethicists have criticized the implanting of so many embryos. National guidelines put the norm at two to three embryos for a woman of Suleman's age, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Kamrava's clinic performed 20 in vitro procedures on women under 35 in 2006, according to the most recent national report compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those 20 procedures, four resulted in pregnancies and two in births. One woman delivered twins.

The average number of embryos he transferred per procedure for women under 35 was 3.5, the report said. Fertility doctors often implant more than one embryo to increase the chances that one will take hold.

An in-vitro procedure typically costs between $8,000 and $15,000. Asked on NBC how she was able to afford the treatments, Suleman said she had saved money and used some of the more than $165,000 in disability payments she received after being injured in a 1999 riot at a state mental hospital where she worked.

She also told NBC that she does not intend to go on welfare, though her publicist confirmed Monday that Suleman already receives food stamps and child disability payments to help feed and care for her six other children.

Suleman's publicist Mike Furtney said she receives $490 a month in food stamps. Three of Suleman's previous children are disabled, Furtney said, but Suleman did not want to disclose the nature of the disabilities, or the type or sum of the payments.

"In her view these are just payments made for people with legitimate needs and are not, in her view, welfare," Furtney said. "She just believes that there are programs for people with needs and she and her children qualify for some of them."

Dr. Richard Paulson, who heads the fertility program at the University of Southern California, cautioned against rushing to judgment about the fertility treatment in this case because questions remain about the quality of Suleman's eggs and whether there were any extraordinary circumstances that would lead Kamrava to transfer so many embryos.

As for the technique Kamrava pioneered, "those of us who are the scientists in the field do not feel this is a significant improvement," Paulson said. He said some doctors advertise that technique as "a way of making patients feel that they are trying something new."

Suleman, who is 33 and single, told NBC's "Today" show she was "fixated" on having children. Suleman said her doctor "did nothing wrong" and had warned her of possible complications to the pregnancy and risks to the development of the babies.

The octuplets were born nine weeks prematurely but appear relatively healthy. Their names have a Biblical theme: Noah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Josiah, Isaiah, Maliyah, Makai and Nariyah. All share the middle name Angel and the last name Solomon.

On Sunday, Suleman's mother, Angela Suleman, seemed to contradict her daughter's account, telling a Web site the fertility specialist who helped her daughter give birth to the octuplets was not the one who aided in the birth of her first six children.

In an interview with celebrity news Web site RadarOnline.com, Angela Suleman said she and Nadya's father pleaded with her first fertility doctor not to treat their daughter again. She said her daughter went to another doctor.

"I'm really angry about that," Angela Suleman said of the doctor's decision to perform the procedure. "She already has six beautiful children. Why would she do this? I'm struggling to look after her six. We had to put in bunk beds, feed them in shifts and there's children's clothing piled all over the house."

Angela Suleman said Nadya's boyfriend was the biological father of all 14 children, but that she refused to marry him.

"He was in love with her and wanted to marry her," she said. "But Nadya wanted to have children on her own."

___

Associated Press Television News videographer John Mone and Associated Press Writer Alicia Chang contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/...e_us/octuplets

[samanthajane13]

Spokesman: Octuplets mom receives food stamps

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California mother of octuplets already receives food stamps and disability payments to help feed and care for her six other children. Publicist Mike Furtney said Monday that Nadya Suleman receives $490 a month in food stamps.

She also receives disability payments for three of her six previous children, but Suleman did not want to disclose the nature of her children's disabilities or the nature of those payments.

In an interview that aired Monday, Suleman told NBC Today show anchor Ann Curry that she does not receive welfare.

Suleman's octuplets were born Jan. 26 in a Los Angeles area hospital.

Furtney says that in Suleman's view, the payments are for her family's legitimate needs.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...s_N.htm?csp=34

[samanthajane13]

Medical society looking into octuplets' conception


LOS ANGELES – The American Society for Reproductive Medicine says it's investigating whether fertility treatment guidelines were broken in the case of a Southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets last month.

The society said in a statement issued Monday that it asked Nadya Suleman and the doctor for more details about her latest pregnancy. Suleman's six other children were conceived through in vitro procedures.

The voluntary, nonprofit organization has guidelines for the number of embryos that should be implanted to prevent multiple births. But the group can't stop doctors from practicing.

"It seems that the guidelines may not have been followed in Ms. Suleman's case," Dr. R. Dale McClure, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said in a statement.

In an interview broadcast Monday on NBC's "Today," Suleman said she underwent in vitro fertilization at a Beverly Hills fertility clinic run by Dr. Michael Kamrava.

The birth of the octuplets has raised questions over the ethics of implanting numerous embryos in a woman who already had six children.

Without identifying the doctor, the Medical Board of California said last week it was looking into the Suleman case to see if there was a "violation of the standard of care." The board said it has not taken any disciplinary action against Kamrava in the past.

Kamrava, 57, would not comment on the issue.

In the NBC interview, Suleman did not identify her doctor by name, but said that she went to the West Coast IVF Clinic in Beverly Hills — of which Kamrava is director — and that all 14 of her children were conceived with help from the same doctor. In 2006, Los Angeles TV station KTLA ran a story on infertility that showed Kamrava treating Suleman and discussing embryo implantation.

Suleman said she had six embryos implanted for each of her pregnancies. The octuplets were a surprise result of her last set of six embryos, she said, explaining she had expected twins at most. Two of the embryos evidently divided in the womb.

Medical ethicists have criticized the implanting of so many embryos. National guidelines put the norm at two to three embryos for a woman of Suleman's age, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Kamrava's clinic performed 52 in vitro procedures in 2006, according to the most recent national report compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, five resulted in pregnancies and two in births. One of the births were Suleman's twins.

Kamrava's pregnancy rate that year was one of the lowest in the country. Experts say many factors affect a clinic's success rate including a patient's health and types of procedures done.

The average number of embryos Kamrava transferred per procedure for women under 35 was 3.5, compared with 2.3 nationally the report said. Fertility doctors often implant more than one embryo to increase the chances that one will take hold.

Suleman's octuplets were delivered nine weeks premature but doctors have said they appear relatively healthy.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/...e_us/octuplets

[samanthajane13]

Medical society probes octuplet fertility doctor
By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, Associated Press Writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 51 mins ago



LOS ANGELES – A national medical society is investigating whether a fertility doctor followed its guidelines when he implanted six embryos into a Southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets last month.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine confirmed Tuesday that it's investigating because Nadya Suleman says she received in-vitro fertilization for all 14 of her children at the same Beverly Hills fertility clinic.

Suleman, 33, told NBC's "Today" show that she was implanted with six embryos in each of her six pregnancies, resulting in four single births, a set of twins and the octuplets. No more than three embryos are considered the norm for a woman her age, and fertility experts and medical ethicists have been critical of the Jan. 26 birth of the octuplets.

The society has contacted Suleman and her doctor, and is prepared to assist the Medical Board of California, which is also looking into the pregnancy, the society's president, Dr. R. Dale McClure, said in a statement.

"Our guidelines provide the flexibility to give each patient treatment individualized to her needs, and her best chance to become pregnant without risking high-order multiple pregnancy," said McClure. "However, it seems that the guidelines may not have been followed in Ms. Suleman's case."

Neither the society or the medical board identified Suleman's physician, Dr. Michael Kamrava.

Kamrava, a specialist who pioneered a method of implantation, was identified Monday as a result of an NBC interview with Suleman, who said she went to the West Coast IVF Clinic in Beverly Hills and that all 14 of her children were conceived with help from the same doctor. In 2006, Los Angeles TV station KTLA ran a story on infertility that showed Kamrava, the center's director, treating Suleman and discussing embryo implantation.

Kamrava, 57, did not return calls seeking comment Monday or Tuesday. When confronted by reporters outside his clinic Monday, he said he had granted a television interview but would not give details.

The state medical board said last week it was looking into the Suleman case to see if there was a "violation of the standard of care." The medical board said it had not taken any previous disciplinary action against Kamrava.

Kamrava's clinic is a member of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, a sister organization of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Clinics that clearly violate guidelines can be kicked out of SART. Neither group is a regulatory agency so a removed doctor could still practice medicine.

The state medical board cannot close the clinic if it is found at fault, but it can censure the doctor, putting the violation on his record.

Kamrava's clinic performed 52 in-vitro procedures in 2006, according to the most recent national report compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, five resulted in pregnancies and two in births. One of the births were Suleman's twins.

Kamrava's pregnancy rate that year was among the lowest in the country. Experts say many factors affect a clinic's success rate, including a patient's health and types of procedures done.

According to court records, Kamrava has been named in at least five medical malpractice lawsuits since 1991. He also has been involved in other cases against him or his clinic, including at least one alleging fraudulent conveyance.

In one case, a former employee accused him and his wife of hiding income to avoid taxes and defrauding insurance companies. Former office administrator Shirin Afshar sued Kamrava in 1998, claiming discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and infliction of emotional distress.

Over a seven-year period, Afshar said, Kamrava and his wife didn't report about $400,000 in income to the state and the Internal Revenue Service. Afshar claims Kamrava made patients who had no insurance pay in cash and that money was turned over to Kamrava's wife. The transactions were neither entered into an office computer nor deposited in a bank, the lawsuit said.

She said she was fired when she complained to Kamrava about what was going on.

Afshar also claimed she had an abortion in 1992 because she feared she would lose her job. When she told Kamrava she was pregnant, she claims her boss chastised her.

"How can you take care of this baby with no job, no family and no money?" Afshar claimed Kamrava said.

The lawsuit was settled in 1999 for an undisclosed amount.

The IRS did not immediately have any information about Afshar's tax claims.

___

Associated Press Television News videographer John Mone and Associated Press Writers Alicia Chang, Thomas Watkins and Greg Risling contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/...e_us/octuplets

[samanthajane13]

Octuplets' mom: No one can care for 14 kids alone

NEW YORK – The mother of octuplets born in California last month says she's "not living off taxpayer money," but that she has been receiving about $490 worth of food stamps.

Nadya Suleman told NBC's "Today" in an interview broadcast Wednesday that her family receives no cash from the government and that the food stamps she's been receiving for 18 months are "not affiliated with welfare."

Suleman, a single mother who already had six children through in vitro fertilization, has been criticized for trying to have more children when she has no job and seemingly little money.

Responding to her mother's claim that she is incapable of caring for her new family, Suleman said: "What human on this planet is capable to take care of 14 independently without support from family, from friends, from church? No human is."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/...e_us/octuplets

[Nantes]

I do public assistance fraud investigations as my job and I am surprised how many people do not think that food stamps are "welfare". They often think that only cash assistance is "welfare" when actually, we don't even use that word anymore (at least here in my state). To me it is all just denial that she does rely on someone/something else to feed all these young children she has chosen to have.

nantes

[wind149]

When I think of my beautiful goddaughter who wants a child very much and can't as her husband has cystic fibrosis and they are afraid a child might inherit the gene and then you look at this slob!!! She already has SIX KIDS and wanted more??? I think she did it for money as people are gonna feel sorry for her and gonna hook her up and I do not want to hear that this loser is gonna get welfare benefits or anything, she wants this many kids she can shag her ass out the door and get a job!! And lookee here, last night she was on Dateline running her spin, I watched about a minute of it, wanted to puke and changed the channel!!!! Can you see the reality show this could be spun from?? Nadia and the 14 children?? Some sleazy network who already has sleazy shows like VH1 would think this be a moneymaker?? Can you see it now??? And the doctor, gotta question his ethics, who in their right mind and took the oath would want to implant 8 embryos in a broad that doesn't even work and already had SIX KIDS??? Who in hell paid for it????

That is very expensive, my goddaughter already looked into that and it is beyond her reach and she does make good money and this slob gets to calve out more??? I think CPS needs to look into this and make sure she is taking care of all these kids, even her own mother is horrified, this woman clearly has mental health issues and why did that doctor not see that??? Was he that hard up for the money??? And her house has three bedrooms and did not look none to clean, piles of dirty clothes on the floor, trash lying on the kitchen floor, she does not have room for the SIX never mind the EIGHT!!! Makes me sick when broads like her can calve them out, usually for that WELFARE CHECK, and people like my girl can't have any, it is not fair!!! If I could have a child for her, I would in a heartbeat!. I never had the maternal instinct, I think it stems from my own abusive childhood, so if I was able to have a baby for her, I would have no qualms handing it over as the child would have everything and the best thing would be love!!!

I think this broad is all about the money and what she can gain from it, already she has had world-wide publicity, she must be sucking it right up!!! What people especially the networks is to forget about it and not encourage her to sit there and spin her bullcrap about how she loves these kids and bigger questions?? WHO"S YOUR DADDY???? And of course if she does apply for the WELFARE, she will get it and the taxpayers some probably who can't have children will be as pissed off as I am!! Everyone I know is outraged over this, no one thinks this is cool or good as like me they have the same mind-set that it is all about her and her comforts and what she can glean from it and I think that doctor needs to be shot upside the head with a washtub!!! Not to mention he being able to retain his license to practice, my own doctor is appalled over this!!!!

[samanthajane13]

I know just what you mean Wind...

When I first posted this story here in the Good News board, I figured it was some married couple who went for in vitro and got a bunch of twins, which would have been cool with me, and it would have been a blessing for the family.

Now that I see the whole story, it's like a train wreck, and the whole concept of this single, unwed idiot having 14 kids makes me want to PUKE!!!

I feel so bad for the family and the tax payers.

They should spay this broad like a DOG!

Anywho-

On to the NEXT chapter...

Taxpayers may have to cover octuplet mom's costs
By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, Associated Press Writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Associated Press Writer – 51 mins ago



LOS ANGELES – A big share of the financial burden of raising Nadya Suleman's 14 children could fall on the shoulders of California's taxpayers, compounding the public furor in a state already billions of dollars in the red.

Even before the 33-year-old single, unemployed mother gave birth to octuplets last month, she had been caring for her six other children with the help of $490 a month in food stamps, plus Social Security disability payments for three of the youngsters. The public aid will almost certainly be increased with the new additions to her family.

Also, the hospital where the octuplets are expected to spend seven to 12 weeks has requested reimbursement from Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, for care of the premature babies, according to the Los Angeles Times. The cost has not been disclosed.

Word of the public assistance has stoked the furor over Suleman's decision to have so many children by having embryos implanted in her womb.

"It appears that, in the case of the Suleman family, raising 14 children takes not simply a village but the combined resources of the county, state and federal governments," Los Angeles Times columnist Tim Rutten wrote in Wednesday's paper. He called Suleman's story "grotesque."

On the Internet, bloggers rained insults on Suleman, calling her an "idiot," criticizing her decision to have more children when she couldn't afford the ones she had, and suggesting she be sterilized.

"It's my opinion that a woman's right to reproduce should be limited to a number which the parents can pay for," Charles Murray wrote in a letter to the Los Angeles Daily News. "Why should my wife and I, as taxpayers, pay child support for 14 Suleman kids?"

She was also berated on talk radio, where listeners accused her of manipulating the system and being an irresponsible mother.

"From the outside you can tell that this woman was playing the system," host Bryan Suits said on the "Kennedy and Suits" show on KFI-AM. "You're damn right the state should step in and seize the kids and adopt them out."

A call to Suleman's publicist Mike Furtney was not immediately returned.

In her only media interviews, Suleman told NBC's "Today" she doesn't consider the public assistance she receives to be welfare and doesn't intend to remain on it for long.

Also, a Nadya Suleman Family Web Site has been set up to collect donations for the children. It features pictures of the mother and each octuplet and has instructions for making donations by check or credit card.

Suleman, whose six older children range in age from 2 to 7, said three of them receive disability payments. She said one is autistic, but she has not disclosed the other youngsters' disabilities, and refused to say how much they get in payments.

In California, a low-income family can receive Social Security payments of up to $793 a month for each disabled child. Three children would amount to $2,379.

The Suleman octuplets' medical costs have not been disclosed, but in 2006, the average cost for a premature baby's hospital stay in California was $164,273, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The average cost for just one cesarean birth in 2006 was $22,762 in California. Eight times that equals $1.3 million.

For a single mother, the cost of raising 14 children through age 17 ranges from $1.3 million to $2.7 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is struggling to close a $42 billion budget gap by cutting services, declined through a spokesman to comment on the taxpayer costs associated with the octuplets' delivery and care.

Suleman received disability payments for an on-the-job back injury during a riot at a state mental hospital, collecting more than $165,000 over nearly a decade before the benefits were discontinued last year.

Some of the disability money was spent on in vitro fertilizations, which was used for all 14 of her children, Suleman said. Suleman said she also worked double shifts at the mental hospital and saved up for the treatments. She estimated that all her treatments cost $100,000.

A dozen states, including California, have laws requiring insurance companies to cover infertility treatment, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But California does not require insurers to cover in vitro procedures. It's not clear what type of coverage Suleman has.

In the NBC interview, Suleman said she will go back to California State University, Fullerton in the fall to complete her master's degree in counseling, and will use student loans to support her children. She said she will rely on the school's daycare center and volunteers.

___

On the Net:

http://www.thenadyasulemanfamily.com

___

Associated Press Writers Alicia Chang and Michael R. Blood contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/...e_us/octuplets



Like I said...makes me wanna PUKE!!!

[wind149]

This slob is collecting bennies and tonight on JVM it comes out she now accepting donations, reality show can't be too far away!! And now speculation she is trying to emulate Angelina Jolie, PLEASE!!! The difference being at least AJ can afford to calve out as many as she wants or adopt more and I think she too is a bit much with all these kids but at least we know those kids will never lack for a thing! How good can this broad take care of 14 kids in a ****ty three room apartment??? And a million in doctor bills? Watch some sucker pay that off thinking she is wonderful for having these kids, if losers can put money in Casey Anthony's account, think of the suckers that are gonna hand cash to this broad!! And she has $50,000 in college loans that are past due and now she wants to go to school some more?? This broad has issues and if the state is smart once they realize that she can't care for them, they step up to the plate and what galls me is she did not have them the natural way, she had them planted in her!!!

And here is millions of good decent folks for whatever reason can't have kids, who could give them a loving home and they sit childless, they have to be as pissed as I am!! Just because people might be poorer and can't afford fertility treatments does not make them bad parent candidates!! My friends have three children and they are my babies too even thought one is 25, the other is 19 and my loving 13 year old godson Ian who is my life, they are excellent parents, hard-working, lately, Kandi has been working 6 days a week to support Ian, they have a mortgage, car payments, utilities and insurance, not much left for luxuries such as video games and activities, I bought him a new bike last summer with my stimulus check as Brian got hurt on the job and is still out of work and it looks like it might be a permanent, he tore his shoulder muscle right off the bone on a machine and while he had it repaired, it tore again so he is unable to use that arm and they are proud, they refuse to ask for assitance, us friends even as poor as we are, try to help as much as we can, I went to the food pantry for them and an agency did help with a propane fill during Xmas, MI is strapped, all agencies here are overwhelmed and it is so heartbreaking and then this slob to get fame and fortune calves out kids she clearly will not be able to care for properly!!! And gonna reap in thousands!!! SICKENING!!!

[samanthajane13]

As of a month or so ago, Katey was removed from my food stamp case because she's in college and isn't working 20 hours a week.

If she was pregnant or had a baby, she's still be eligible.

She's up by 5am, has to leave the house at 7 am for her 9am class due to the way our buses run, gets out at 12 noon, and gets home by 2 pm. When is she supposed to eat, sleep and study if she works 20 or more hours a week???

Even the school won't give her work/study, which would qualify, due to her course load and her travel time.

So we're sharing my $650 SSI, her $77 a week "child support" joke, and $100 that I get for food stamps.

And this heifer is cranking out babies like mice crank out pups, and they shovel the money and food stamps at her...

Nice racket she's running.

[wind149]

Boy do I know about SS checks! I get $711 and $122 in food stamps and I used to work for a living and this slob here just shat them out for the bennies and I puked when I heard this a.m. she was lying through her teeth about said bennies, this loser gets $1800 a month in SS for three of the babies, plus $490 in FS and Medicaid and she not only has a publicist, she also has a website begging for donations and I hope to Christ if people do donate they should buy diapers and formula, clothing and food items instead of just handing her cash! And she ought to be made to pay her own freaking medical bills, I had a whopper of a bill when I had major cancer surgery and it took forever to pay it off and I had the added worry whether they got it all and luckily they did. This loser is counting on somebody picking up the tab, and a talking head said this a.m. on CNN that people probably will donate as no one wants to see all 14 kids go without and this loser gambled on that very fact, you watch the money this skank will get! As I said last night, suckers are gonna pick up the tab because they feel sorry for her and if the networks were smart, no one else should interview her, we have all seen this skank running her spin enough already!! And I do not want to see her on an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition either!!! Would not put it past her to apply as clearly she expects everyone to just give her whatever she wants now because she has 14 kids, makes me puke!

[samanthajane13]

I think that SSI, Medicaid and Food Stamps should keep a VERY CLOSE EYE on those donations, and make her go through a spend-down.

There was a case where my ex-mother-in-law inherited a car and jewelry from her sister, and the government put a market value on ALL that stuff, and knocked her off Medicaid and cut her SSI and Food Stamps for a set period of time that they figures the market cash value was worth.

They considered it all income, and forced her to go through it before she could get full benefits again. I know that it was well over a year, 'cause she was pitching a fit over it every time she got me on the phone.

They should do the same thing for this brood-cow.

They should figure the market value of every last gift or donation she gets for herself or those kids that doesn't come directly from her parents, and deduct it from the benefits she would receive. She'll be collecting and redeeming pop cans and standing in line at food pantries for about the next 18 years, if they do.

That would keep her busy...

[wind149]

Donna ITA! I can apply here for a renter's rebate and wouldn't ya know I have to report that even and for the month I receive it my FS will go down, disgusting or what? Why should this loser be treated any different? Much to my last nerve, she will probably get a mitt full from suckers thinking she is just a do-gooder who loves kids! I thought most states were kicking women off the rolls by not giving them more money for every kid they calve out! I remember one time about 20 years ago I was in a store and this broad clearly pregnant and dragging a filthy toddler in tow and a woman says to her, "oh you are preggies, gonna keep the baby"? Welfare trash responds, "you bet, it is more money in my check"!! I knew this loser enough to know her name and I marched right down to the welfare office and asked to speak to a supervisor and told her what that skank said and I told her that when I had major cancer surgery, unable to work, almost died and all welfare would do for me was to give me $20 in food stamps and yet this loser clearly thinks she is entitled to bennies because she spread her legs for some loser??? The woman took my info but I can bet loser still got her bennies!! Oh yeah, now I know why she gets SS because 3 of the kids have issues and what galls me is she gets $600 per kid, how is that possible??? I only get $111 more a month and I have a terminal disease but worked my ass off since I was 9 years old? And she is getting death threats? Oh Gee, what a shame!! She is a sleaze and I wish to God that the networks would just forget this broad even exists, she is licking up all the attention and posting her web-site, maybe I need to write this loser and tell her my opinion, she won't like what I have to say!!!

[samanthajane13]

LA police to investigate threats to octuplet mom
By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, Associated Press Writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 6 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Police said Thursday they will investigate death threats against octuplet mom Nadya Suleman and advise her publicist on how to handle a torrent of other nasty messages that have flooded his office.

Word that the 33-year-old single, unemployed mother is receiving public assistance to care for the 14 children she conceived through in vitro fertilization has stoked furor among many people.

Police Lt. John Romero said officers were meeting with Suleman's publicist Mike Furtney about the flood of angry phone calls and e-mail messages against Suleman, her children and Furtney.

"We are aware of the media accounts of the threats, and that they are being sent to the West Los Angeles detectives for appropriate action," Romero said.

Furtney said 500 new e-mails were received early Thursday.

"We're talking to the Los Angeles Police Department to get their best advice as to how to regard these messages," Furtney said as the phone in his office rang constantly.

He is also consulting with a security professional to get advice on any precautions that might need to be taken.

Suleman is living in an undisclosed location and spends time with all her kids every day, Furtney said. The octuplets are expected to remain in the hospital for several more weeks.

Not all the calls have been angry. One family from the Midwest has invited Suleman and her brood to live on their farm, Furtney said.

"One thing that keeps me from jumping out the window is that we've heard from many people offering some kind of support: clothing, food, financial or other help," Furtney said.

Suleman has been supporting her six other children with $490 a month in food stamps and receives Social Security disability payments for three of the youngsters that could total $2,379 a month.

She has estimated her in vitro fertilization procedures have cost $100,000.

Suleman has said she saved for the treatments by working double shifts and also used money from a disability award exceeding $165,000 that she received after an on-the-job back injury.

The benefits were discontinued last year.

The Suleman octuplets' medical costs have not been disclosed, but in 2006, the average cost for a premature baby's hospital stay in California was $164,273, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Eight times that equals $1.3 million.

For a single mother, the cost of raising 14 children through age 17 ranges from $1.3 million to $2.7 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090212/...e_us/octuplets

[samanthajane13]

SoCal octuplets mother now has agent, no publicist
BY ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer Robert Jablon, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 1 min ago

LOS ANGELES – The public relations group that has represented octuplets mother Nadya Suleman is stepping down because of death threats, its president said Saturday.

Joann Killeen also said the mother now has an agent: Wes Yoder, the same man who arranged book and music deals for the McCaughey septuplets a decade ago and publicity for controversial pastor Rick Warren.

The Killeen Furtney Group was ending its free representation after receiving at least 100 graphic e-mailed threats and swarms of nasty voicemails that went to the Los Angeles agency and even to some of its other clients, Killeen said.

Some messages threatened Suleman but others were aimed at her spokespeople.

"They'd put me in the wood chipper and throw me in the bottom of the ocean and hope I die," Killeen said.

"We've gotten her through the worst part of it and now they are putting their venom and anger toward us," Killeen said.

Word that the 33-year-old single unemployed mother is receiving public assistance to care for the 14 children she conceived through in vitro fertilization has stoked furor among many people.

West Los Angeles police are investigating the threats.

"We've never had a public reaction to us representing a client pro bono like this, ever," Killeen said.

Suleman, who gave birth last month, is living at an undisclosed location. She has set up a Web page to accept donations to help the octuplets, who remained hospitalized.

Meanwhile, Killeen said Suleman told her that she had reached an exclusive representation deal with Yoder.

His Ambassador Agency, Inc., bills itself as the oldest Christian-based talent agency in the United States.

The agency, which has a Nashville mailing address and a street address in Franklin, Tenn., promotes speaking engagements, publicity and media deals for clients.

Killeen said the agreement with Yoder and her agency's decision to step down were unrelated. She had not yet contacted Yoder and was unclear on the specifics of Suleman's deal with him, Killeen added.

A call and e-mail left for Yoder before dawn on Saturday were not immediately returned.

A decade ago, Yoder was the spokesman and agent for Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey, the Iowa couple who had the world's first surviving septuplets on Nov. 19, 1997. They were later involved in book, music and TV commercial deals.

He also has represented Rick Warren, pastor of the evangelical Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest and best-selling author of "The Purpose Driven Life." Warren gave the invocation at President Barack Obama's inauguration — a choice that drew criticism from gay activists because Warren supported last year's successful California ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriages.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090214/...e_us/octuplets

[javahog]

No offense, folks, but I hope some idiot network picks her up. As a resident of California, otherwise I'm paying for her, and boy does that make me want to lead a tax revolt.

[Grave Chaser]

I had to laugh when I saw this on the 'Good News' thread.... geesh! This whole monstrosity just makes me sick. I do wonder one thing... if her back was so bad, how the hell did she carry these kids? And to add to this rant, I'm irritated by the fact that this government of ours PAYS people to have children. And I'm not just talking about welfare, I'm talking about all the tax credits people get for having kids. I am a single woman who runs her own business as well as works part time to supplement my income and have made the conscious decision NOT to have children ever, yet I have to pay for everyone else's joys AND mistakes. For example, my cousin and her husband have two children, 6 and 9. He has a good job working for the county and she works at a church daycare. They own their home, but belong to a program that helps pay their mortgage (which isn't even $400 a month). I beleive they also get state assistance (I know they get medical, but any other help, I'm unsure). They did thier taxes last year and got back $5000+ the $1000+ stimulus check. Yay them! They bought a $2000 sleep member bed and put $2000 aside to pay for a large family vacation (the adults pay for themselves, grandpa and grandma are paying for the kids) that I'm sure I'll have to pass on because every penny I keep after uncle sam goes to pay my bills/living expenses. Ok, I'm done venting. I'm sure I'll catch some $**** for this post, but oh well, my skin is thick. I wonder how much NS is gonna get? Probably nothing from state, since CA is broke. hahahaha

[One2Snoop]

Originally Posted by Grave Chaser

I had to laugh when I saw this on the 'Good News' thread.... geesh! This whole monstrosity just makes me sick. I do wonder one thing... if her back was so bad, how the hell did she carry these kids? And to add to this rant, I'm irritated by the fact that this government of ours PAYS people to have children. And I'm not just talking about welfare, I'm talking about all the tax credits people get for having kids. I am a single woman who runs her own business as well as works part time to supplement my income and have made the conscious decision NOT to have children ever, yet I have to pay for everyone else's joys AND mistakes. For example, my cousin and her husband have two children, 6 and 9. He has a good job working for the county and she works at a church daycare. They own their home, but belong to a program that helps pay their mortgage (which isn't even $400 a month). I beleive they also get state assistance (I know they get medical, but any other help, I'm unsure). They did thier taxes last year and got back $5000+ the $1000+ stimulus check. Yay them! They bought a $2000 sleep member bed and put $2000 aside to pay for a large family vacation (the adults pay for themselves, grandpa and grandma are paying for the kids) that I'm sure I'll have to pass on because every penny I keep after uncle sam goes to pay my bills/living expenses. Ok, I'm done venting. I'm sure I'll catch some $**** for this post, but oh well, my skin is thick. I wonder how much NS is gonna get? Probably nothing from state, since CA is broke. hahahaha

I belive this thread started out with good intentions - all 8 babies survive! Who wouldn't be happy to hear such good news? But I agree, the more we learn the more absurd the whole thing is - not sure if we have a forum for "Freaky/Bizarre News" perhaps this might be a good time to start one?

[samanthajane13]

"I belive this thread started out with good intentions - all 8 babies survive! Who wouldn't be happy to hear such good news?"

Yes, gang...that's EXACTLY WHY I posted the story here. Then the story took this disgusting turn, and became a train-wreck.

"But I agree, the more we learn the more absurd the whole thing is - not sure if we have a forum for "Freaky/Bizarre News" perhaps this might be a good time to start one?

It's a thread in the "Other News" list, and called "Really Odd News", but that's mostly little snippets...NOT ever-expanding crap like this freak-show...

Here's the link to the Really Odd News...you'll see what I mean about "little snippets...

http://www.boards.crimelibrary.com/s...d.php?t=291436