In Truth, Didn't We Create Octomom?

With our glorification of bizarre behavior, Raina Kelley correctly makes the point that we dare the emotionally needy to shock and appall us; then we slam them.

Kelley raises some solid issues in her recent essay in Newsweek.

She labels it as beautiful and exasperating, that our democracy gives people the freedom to have as many children as they want. She describes money and how having lots of it really does make the work-home balance thing a lot easier. And on the ethical question (described in an earlier blog post) of how many embryos should be transferred to a woman, Kelly states, "While the cost of IVF is usually mentioned, most of these experts conveniently forget to mention how few states force insurance companies to pay for IVF treatment."

She concludes that Octomom should be a warning to us that by sensationalizing her, "We're inviting more trivialization of the most sacred aspects of humanity."

How about you, have you had enough of those large family reality shows?

Good Questions About Miraculous Births

Infertility doctors are getting better and better at delivering miracles.
A recent piece in the Baltimore Sun titled, Limiting Reproduction asks some excellent questions:
Is it responsible for a woman to bear children regardless of her age and number of babies involved?
Is it ethical for fertility clinics to facilitate a paying customer's pregnancy simply because they know how?

The article (correctly in my view) suggests that it may be time for federal and state government to consider legal rules and boundaries for the fertility industry. Authors Pertman and Cahn describe a 60 year old woman who travelled to India for IVF because Canadian doctors deemed it unethical to treat her.

For my other posts on infertility please click here.

"In Vitro We Trust"

Here is my letter to the New York Times re Peggy Orenstein's recent article. Click here to read the article.

Peggy Orenstein's "In Vitro We Trust" was well written and she is correct: the 3 million babies born worldwide via IVF are a miracle. But, can't we call a spade a spade? IVF is not the solution to a long standing medical challenge like diabetes or heart disease. IVF is one solution to the growing trend of infertility which is a consequence of intentionally delaying childbearing in the last 3 decades. Many couples, who use IVF, chose to delay childbearing for their own convenience.

As marriages are delayed, so are children, which results in significantly more multiple births as well as pre-term babies. While lauding IVF as a miracle, can't we also remind couples that decisions have consequences that can be heart-breaking? Just because a breakthrough is discovered, doesn't mean that we should become more dependent on it, considering its huge emotional and financial toll.

Dr. Alan Singer
www.FamilyThinking.com