Many have been asking me to comment on the recent octuplet case in the news.
I have to admit, this is out of my field, so I’ll point to a few other physicians who have been talking about the case.
When it was first reported, it was speculated that Ms. Suleman used fertility medications indiscriminately, and then had intercourse. Gynecologist Amy Tuteur suspected illicit use of Pergonal, a medication that stimulates the ovaries to produce more eggs. To achieve octuplets, the ovaries would need to be coaxed into producing eight or more follicles, a circumstance where every physician would have advised against sex.
Indeed, that was reproductive endocrinologist Terrence Lee’s first thought as well: “It is feasible to think that somebody injected herself with medication, unmonitored and unaware of exactly how many follicles she was developing. Therefore it would be more understandable that she subjected herself to the risk of octuplets when in fact, she thought she had much fewer eggs.”
However, it now appears that Ms. Suleman was indeed the recipient of in-vitro fertilization. Ethics aside (you can read elsewhere for an extensive discussion of the ethical controversies surrounding the case, as well as the patient’s questionable background), Dr. Lee explains the long odds for successful implantation of that many embryos.
Under perfect circumstances, including an unlikely 75 percent per embryo success rate, going 8 for 8 puts the likelihood at around 10 percent. At a more realistic, but still generous 60 percent implantation rate, the chances of octuplets drops to 1.68 percent.
“It would be more likely to imagine transferring, say 14 embryos and having eight take,” Dr. Lee speculates, but “it is hard to imagine any physician eager to transfer eight (let alone fourteen) embryos under these circumstances.”
Was Ms. Suleman paid to under IVF? Did an “insider” at a fertiliy program pull this off without a physician’s knowledge? Could the fertility doctor be bribed to implant that many embryos? Will this incidence lead to increased regulation of the reproductive endocrine community?
All excellent questions, and I suggest heading over to Dr. Lee’s blog, Fertility File, to read his take on the story.
Related posts:
- Nadya Suleman’s fertility specialist Michael Kamrava, and how he’s able to stay in practice despite a poor history of successful implantations
- Ten top medical blog posts, February 2009
- Hysterectomy, the ovaries and dementia
- Another scandal at UC Irvine
- Screening embryos for breast cancer
- Avandia: Patients partly to blame?
- An abortion fails, mother sues doctors for costs to raise her child
{ 9 comments }
If she is going to raise them on her nickel, then it is her business, and there is no blame to be apportioned.
How can one expect the doctor to say “no”. He practices in California where the State Supreme Court has decided to drastically limit a fertilities doctor’s rights to put limits on who they serve.
Does a doctor have any more right to say “No, I don’t help impregnate single women” or “No, I think you have too many children already” than he does to say “No, I don’t help impregnate Lesbian couples”. One the state turns the doctor into a public utility with no moral autonomy, then he has no business judging the number of children one ought to have.
On the other hand, everyone has the right to say what they will and will not pay for, and that includes the general public acting through the state.
You breed them, you feed them.
Nadya Suleman went on workers compensation disability back in 1999 (at age 23) due to a work-related back injury (in which she filed 2 different workers compensation claims, one of which netted her $168,000). For the past 10 years though she’s been receiving disability payments and unable to work, she’s been able to undergo several IVF treatments and have 14 children. Since disability payments generally aren’t counted as income (or taxed), she’s also likely been able to receive welfare for each of her 6 children.
This woman has been living off the system for most of her adult life and will continue to do so at taxpayer’s expense.
Nadya Suleman went on workers compensation disability back in 1999 (at age 23) due to a work-related back injury (in which she filed 2 different workers compensation claims, one of which netted her $168,000). For the past 10 years though she’s been receiving disability payments and unable to work, she’s been able to undergo several IVF treatments and have 14 children. Since disability payments generally aren’t counted as income (or taxed), she’s also likely been able to receive welfare for each of her 6 children.
This woman has been living off the system for most of her adult life and will continue to do so at taxpayer’s expense.
Look what our socialistic laws produce: http://article-trend.com/celebrity-gossip/octuplets-from-six-to-fourteen-in-nine-months/
Really great article.
I do have a question.. If Ms. Suleman was “disabled” and receiving money for a “disability” was she in fact healthy enough to undergo this elective procedure which would likely stress her body beyond belief? In my humble opinion if she was sick enough not to work and receive money from disability for that long, she should not be cleared for such a procedure by a doctor. Did the doctor neglect to take a thorough history of this patient? Honestly she hurt her back and can’t work, but she can carry EIGHT CHILDREN in her uterus? That is craziness.
Why were her Disability payments discontinued? Shouldn’t she have to PAY BACK to the taxpayers all that money?
I think this was planned and we have all been bilked into thinking otherwise.
The 14 kids lives are at risk.
Everyone is so worried about this woman’s mental stability, then do something about it. It is impossible to just feed these babies by yourself, let alone change and wash them and dress them. One or more of these babies could easily die from neglect, albeit unintentional, but I feel that is the crux of this huge dilemma. The mother has to sleep and rest at some point, she is going to need more help than anyone will be willing to give. I do not want to pay for this and since this woman has milked the system for most of her adult life, this seems to be the forecast. It seems to me that both this mother and her doctor wanted their 15 minutes of fame and thought they would be instant celebrities. Ok, she and the Dr. did this, they should figure a way out. She had enough money to pay for plastic surgery to look like a movie star, but let’s see if she can take care of these children. Her 15 minutes is almost up, people will forget her and go on to the next odd news event and what will happen to 14 children that did not ask to be born. She is disabled, what a crock, she has an entitled personality and will suck the system dry if allowed. This is an accident waiting to happen, I just hope some of these children make it up past the vast impediments in their paths.
That terribly gross & disgusting photo on Drudgereport.com shows her bare belly full of those poor little octuplets and her back doesn't seem to be injured at all! Hope she will have to pay it all back.
I do not think that she and the doctor completely thought their plans through before popping out eight more. This is a VERY serious case in which 14 children are facing a lifetime of embarrassment and therapy.
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