Strollerderby : IVF

Octomom to Kate: Don't You Judge Me

Madeline Holler — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:34:00 GMT

It's a battle of the super-breeders! The LA Times is reporting that Nadya Suleman (aka: Octomom) wants Kate Gosselin, star of TLC's "Jon & Kate + 8," to stop judging her.

Suleman's comments come after a recent episode of "Dr. Phil." Gosselin, the mother of five-year-old sextuplets and two older children, said that Suleman would have a difficult time raising her 14 children without a husband or money. She was responding to a question about Suleman's situation.

Here's what Suleman had to say in response:

"Do I have to watch it? She reminds me of my mother," said Suleman, a resident of La Habra, in an interview with Radar Online released this morning. "I have moved past my mistakes. She has her own issues. ... She needs to stop being so judgmental and stop pulling at straws for attention." ...

Suleman said in the video interview that Gosselin should focus on her own life. "My children are extremely healthy, strong and happy. Don't you have, like, a lot of issues in your life? A lot of marital problems?" she told Radar.

Ouch!

Incidentally, Suleman signed on for her own reality show. But producers want you to know it's different. Ocotomom herself will be holding the camera much of the time. Oh, that can't be good. That can't be good.

'Jon & Kate' Under Investigation

Blogger Defends Kate!

Image: LA Times

New Mom-to-be Is 66 Years Old

JeanneSager — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:27:00 GMT

I'm sorry if any of the older mom readers who frequent our pages will take this as an insult, but news that a mom-to-be setting a new record in England for her age really made me want to go to take a nap.

Elizabeth Adeney is expecting her first child at the ripe old age of sixty-six, making her the oldest pregnant woman in English history.

And making me really, really exhausted on her behalf.

Adeney, who works in a factory, is reportedly single and spent ten thousand pounds on in vitro treatments at a clinic in the Ukraine to get pregnant. Now eight months along, she's apparently been hiding her pregnancy - perhaps because of the world-wide scrutiny the news has naturally elicited.

I'm all for single women having babies if they can support them. Same goes for older women bringing children into this world. But let's face it, Adeney is single. Whether she can financially support her baby or not, whether she's got the amazing health of women half her age or not, she IS taking a huge risk here of leaving her teenager completely alone in the world.

Because good health or not, does she know she'll live to eighty-four? That's how long she'll have to make it to see her child graduate from high school and reach the age of majority. What about eighty-eight to see them graduate from college? She can likely forget ever seeing her own grandchildren.

This could all be discounted if there were additional people in Adeney's life to provide for this child not only in a financial sense but an emotional one. But Adeney is not only divorced with no partner but has no brothers or sisters to step in for this kid should something happen.

She's said this whole pregnancy is her business alone. But is it? It may not be fair that people are asking her questions not asked of other single parents or even other mothers of "advanced maternal age," but with her decision to pursue IVF, she brought the questions on herself. She is not in the same situation as a forty-year-old single parent, hence she can't be expected to be treated the same way.

What do you think, Babble readers? Does Adeney's age matter more in light of her marital status?

Image: Sky News

OctoMom's Kid - Bite Mark And Black Eye

Brett Singer — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:30:00 GMT

This is disturbing.

Social Services paid a visit to Nadya Suleman's home the other day. Surprisingly, this isn't a regular occurrence. They were there to investigate because one of the OctoMom's children, Aidan, had gone to school with a black eye and a bite mark on his back. After a 45 minute interview, investigators left without taking action.

Orange County Child and Family Services and La Habra police did not comment because, you know, things like this are supposed to be confidential. Nadya, however, did an interview with her exclusive outlet, RadarOnline. (Remember when Radar was this hip and cool magazine? Yeah, not anymore.)

In the interview, she managed to make me question her parenting skills even more than I might have previously, which is impressive if you think about it. She tells the interviewer that the social services visit was her fault, because she didn't see the note that Aidan's teacher had pinned to his backpack asking about the injuries. To be fair, I've missed notes as well, but they weren't asking me if my children were participating in after-school cage fights. The scariest line to me is that Aidan's black eye is from "falling down," something he does because he has autism. There's a moment where Nadya says the black eye is from his meltdowns, and "in the process of throwing him... throwing himself on the floor..." I know, it's just a slip, but it's creepy.

As for the bite mark, Nadya says it's from one of his siblings. (To borrow a line from Robin Quivers on the Howard Stern Show, "They're eating each other!")

In the video, you get to see Ms. Suleman attempt to discipline one her kids as he first hits his sibling, then hits the camera. "We're just starting time outs," she says. Seems to be working great. She also tells us that the officials told her they were impressed with how well the family was doing, and "how well-organized her home was." Wow. I don't believe that statement one bit.

I know. It's not fair to criticize parenting skills. Right? Except that she's making these videos on putting them online. Mostly I just feel bad for the kids. There's no way they could possible be getting anything resembing a decent amount of attention from their mother.

Source: AP via Yahoo and RadarOnline

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NYT Asks: Are There Too Many Ways to Conceive?

Jen Chaney — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:29:00 GMT

Lisa Belkin over at the NYT's Motherlode blog wonders if the pursuit-of-parenthood market may be oversaturated.

Citing the recent examples of the Sarah Jessica Parker/Matthew Broderick surrogate twins and the woman attempting to become a surrogate grandmother by using her dead son's sperm, Belkin asks if science -- with its IVF, egg donations, fertility drugs and other advances -- has perhaps given us too many options. She quotes The Washington Post's Liza Mundy, who recently wrote a book about assisted reproduction: "When there is always something else to try ... there is no permission to stop. That’s the hardest part of the process for couples. For most of them, the ‘permission’ to stop comes when they run out of money."

Mundy mentions a key word there: money. I suspect that the only people who may feel overwhelmed by the vast conception options out there are people with either a. unbelievably awesome health insurance, or b. sizeable amounts of wealth.

For the average, fertility-challenged couple, it's more like: try the old-fashioned way, maybe pursue fertility drugs or IVF for a short period of time, then start looking into adoption. (Which, for the record, ain't cheap either.) As Mundy rightly points out, people usually exhaust their options when the funding runs out, and that can make them feel guilty. But I think most parental hopefuls realize their resources are limited. It's a terrible feeling to spend all that time, energy and cash on one conception option or another and still not have a child as a result. I guess I'm not just sure how many people cope with that feeling by, say, turning from in vitro fertilization to intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

I think it's valid to raise the questions Belkin mentions, for sure. I just think most Americans won't ever have to answer them because practical, economic factors will steer their decisions more than any excess of scientific options ever will. As a commenter on Belkin's blog post put it: "I agree that the possibilities can be wonderful for people who very much want to become parents, but those possibilities right now are only available to those with deep pockets. Insurance does not cover most infertility treatments."

Related Links:

Babble Talk: Can You Detach the Womb from the Woman?

Handy Tips for Infertility Awareness Week

Genetic Mom Gets OK to Adopt Baby Carried by Partner

Mom Gets OK to Collect Dead Son's Sperm

Octo-Mom Home With All Eight Kids - VIDEO

Brett Singer — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:45:00 GMT

Nadya Suleman, the Octo-Mom (do we really need to say that anymore?), has "finally" brought the eighth and final octuplet home to roost. Jonah is his name. (Someone less sensitive than I would make a whale joke here. But I won't.)

RadarOnline has the EXCLUSIVE video of Nadya and the children. The kids are cute. There are a lot of them. She already has six. That makes fourteen.

We know all of this, of course. The question is, do we still care?

Is anyone else surprised at how quickly we seem to have become uninterested in Mme. Suleman? I wonder if whoever signs her up for a TV show is prepared for "Denise Richards – It's Complicated" level ratings. I mean, would you watch an Octo-mom show? Maybe at first, but for how long?

Anyway, here's the video for those who are interested. I sort of am. But I think I've reverted to feeling sorry for the kids, and even slightly sorry for her. Not that I think she didn't create this situation, but, as Hannah wrote, she seems like she might be "crazy in a way that requires compassion and serious psychiatric treatment, not a media campaign, and definitely not a fertility clinic." Well put.

Source: RadarOnline

Another Day, Another Dollar, Another Octomom Exclusive Interview

OctoMom's Second Publicist Quits

Suleman Cashing In - Trademarks Term Octomom

The Secret to Octomom's Expensive Pregnancies

Open Letter To The Woman Who Pushed Me While I Was Picking Up My Kid

Family Awarded Millions For Circumcision Mistake

Woman Will Go Free If Son Comes Back To Life

New Fertility Treatment Lowers Costs, Risks

Amy Kuras — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:01:00 GMT

You’ve got to love the New York Daily News. Headlining an article about a new, less expensive fertility treatment a doctor in NYC is attempting, they trumpet “Have a baby at new low, low price!” and the lede is “A Manhattan fertility doctor is offering a recession special: test-tube babies at bargain-basement prices.”

Hi. We don’t call them test-tube babies here in the 21st century anymore, FYI.

I thought this might mean that a doctor was lowering his price for in-vitro fertilization because of the recession. It’s not commonly covered by insurance and can cost $10,000 to $15,000 a pop.

But what Dr. Joel Batzofin is doing is starting what he calls a long-term clinical trial of a new technique he believes he is the first to perfect. Called in-vitro maturation, the procedure harvests immature eggs, bathes them in hormones until they are ready, then (according to the story) transfers fertilized embryos.

What the story skips, of course, is that the eggs have to be fertilized by sperm somewhere along the line to become embryos, unless he’s doing something incredibly groundbreaking. But it sounds like essentially what he is doing is what fertility drugs do inside the body -- coax reluctant ovaries to produce a mature egg.

This is less expensive than traditional IVF at about $8,000 per cycle. It can also avoid ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome where the ovaries produce way too many eggs. At best that hurts like crazy, at worst you could develop trouble breathing and other serious problems.

So far no pregnancies have resulted, although several women are waiting to see if the healthy embryos they transferred will take. Batzofin says he’ll only try 20 times before ending the trial.

I don’t know that I’d stake my hopes, dreams, and $8,000 which is still a pretty penny in any event on an unproven theory, but I also love that at least one doctor is trying to find something that works that is less invasive and expensive.

Gloria Allred Sits On A Booster Seat

Brett Singer — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Reading this headline might cause you to think that we're being mean. Before you darn me to heck, though, consider this -- it's true.

W Magazine developed a fascination with Ms. Allred not dissimilar to our own. A key difference is that W Magazine's office is in the same building as Allred's, so staff members at the mono-syllabic-named mag popped in on a recent press conference she had regarding the OctoMom. (Nadya Suleman, perhaps you've heard of her?)

Anyway, among other amusing observations, the editors noticed that the "small and compact" attorney (their words) was seated on an actual booster seat. This one.

What seems odd to me is why Allred wouldn't just get a phone book, or a more grown-up version of a booster seat. Like maybe a pillow. The W editors wonder if "Maybe it's something she picked up from the Suleman kids?" Either that or product placement. Only time will tell.

Image: WMagazine.com

OctoMom's Second Publicist Quits

AUDIO - OctoMom 911 Calls Released

The Dr. Phil And OctoMom Show

OctoMom Video Blog at RadarOnline

OctoMom Rejects Angels In Waiting Offer

OctoMom Says Denis Beaudoin is Not OctoDad

Realities of Discharging Octuplets

Surrogate Agency Disappears With Potential Parents Cash

Brett Singer — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:30:00 GMT

If you were trying to have a baby using a surrogate mother, I hope you didn't turn to SurroGenesis for help. If you did, odds are your money is gone.

According to the New York Times, SurroGenesis' main office in California is closed, and many of the 60 locations they listed on their web site were P.O. boxes. According to the Times, the company emailed clients on March 13 "that their money was gone." How much? About $2 million, according to lawyers, "with some couples losing as much as $90,000."

The thing is, the Surrogenesis website is still active as of this writing. Although the Times calls the site "impressive," there are a few red flags:

Adoption: Can their be a genetic relationship between parent and child? Rarely.
(emphasis added)

Um, proofread much?

Some potential parents lost a lot of money, but even worse are the ones who lost all their money and were already involved with a surrogate. (Note: this is all "allegedly", using the Times article as a source.) Attorney Andrew W. Vorzimer (representing former Surrogenesis customers) says that one surrogate mother is 33 weeks pregnant, confined to bed rest, and facing eviction since she is unable to work or pay her rent. The couple she was carrying the twins lost $50,000, and they can't help her.

The article also points out that "There is no licensing requirement for egg donor and surrogate brokers." Maybe after this story, there will be.

Source: NY Times

Image: Surrogenesis (please don't give them money, since they allegedly took lots from people already)

Open Letter To The Woman Who Pushed Me While I Was Picking Up My Kid

Tourney Time = Vasectomy Time

Back to the Third Grade for This 71-Year-Old

Kate Gosselin Dreamt Of A Husband and Children - Did You?

TV Is Neither Good Nor Bad For Babies

Jimmy Kimmel And The Octomom

Should Mixed Up Embryo's Mom Get to Weigh In on Abortion?

JeanneSager — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:25:00 GMT

Remember the outrage over the Japanese doctors who oh-so-accidentally transferred one couple's embryo into the wrong mom-to-be?

The story's back in the news - with a twist. It turns out the woman whose embryo was accidentally transferred into the womb of an ususpecting IVF patient (who later aborted) did not find out about the incident for a full two and a half months. Doctors said the woman, who was in her forties, was not overly concerned. Her exact words (according to the health officials) were "I'm sorry to hear that."

So what's the problem? Some members of the press are now debating whether that woman should have had a chance to weigh in on the subject when doctors realized the mistake. In other words - some are debating whether the embryo's "Mom" should have had the right to talk the pregnant woman out of aborting her "child."

Wait, what? Technically, they're suggesting that one woman should have the right over another woman's body. And they're not the only ones.

Some of the commentors on the original reporting of the story here on Strollerderby expressed their outrage at the woman who underwent the abortion - even pro-choice moms. As Emma says, "That's pretty disgusting. This woman was so desperate for a child she paid for expensive IVF treatments, but she couldn't bear to keep a child that wasn't her's biologically? I completely understand her anger, and a large settlement would be justified. For me, despite being pro choice, the abortion is unfathomable."

As a woman who was very happy to get pregnant and even happier when the pregnancy ended (with the birth of my daughter), I'm not sure I'm OK with the idea of going forward with a pregnancy for the sake of someone else . . . especially someone I've never met. Planned surrogacy is one thing. Accidental surrogacy, and suffering through all the ill effects of pregnancy for someone else's child is quite another.

On the other hand, this woman and her husband provided egg and sperm in good faith. They thought their embryo would become a child, and it was their flesh and blood. They didn't impregnate some poor woman on purpose, and they sure as heck could have suffered exponentially from the loss of either the chance to become pregnant or the loss of that fetus.

Should the biological parents' of the embryo have been allowed to know the situation right away? Should they have been allowed contact with the pregnant woman? Or was there enough of a burden on the women who suffered from the wrongly transferred embryo?

Image: PatDollard.com

Jimmy Kimmel And The Octomom

Brett Singer — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Now that I'm a parent I find that I don't have time to watch late night TV, but Jimmy Kimmel seems to have gotten pretty funny while I was busy with my brood. Luckily I can catch it all in dribs and drabs online. (Note: these are only sort of safe for work/the eyes and ears of your kids, so proceed with some caution.)

Like the rest of us, Kimmel has been taking pot shots at Nadya Suleman, aka the Octomom. Unlike the rest of us, he has a staff of writers and video people. (None of these are examples of tremendously complex comedy but it probably helped to have, you know, help.)

This video is really all about the wax lips that Jimmy puts on (and eventually eats) when he "plays" Nadya Suleman on his late night talk show. So it's a cheap gag, but still kind of funny.

It is a little gross when Jimmy/Nadya pulls out a Mason jar of embryos and sits on them. But again, it's kind of funny in a Beavis/Butthead sort of way. I'm also not sure whether he's talking about Nadya or Dr. Phil when he says he wouldn't "give money to that lunatic."

Jimmy also has video of the birth:

The babies are flyin'. Look out!

And Jimmy looked at the video of Nadya and her mom:

That little edit at the end didn't happen. It's kind of like the scene in 'True Lies', where Ah-nuld imagines punching out the car salesman who was lusting after his wife. Wish fulfillment. Something tells me Nadya's mom wouldn't mind having a DVD of that clip to watch when things get tough.

Image: DailyTube

OctoMom Says Denis Beaudoin is Not OctoDad

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OctoMom's Second Publicist Quits

OctoMom Video Blog at RadarOnline

New Rick Springfield CD For Kids

AUDIO - OctoMom 911 Calls Released

RENT Too Risqué For Some Schools

Will Ferrell's Landlord Retires From Comedy

Proposed Anti-Octomom Law Stalls, For Now

Kate Tuttle — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:30:00 GMT

A Georgia state bill that would have imposed severe limits on IVF, promoted as a measure to prevent future "Octomom" situations, is unlikely to be passed this year, according to observers. The proposed legislation, which has been sent to a senate subcommittee for further study, would have required doctors and fertility clinics to fertilize no more embryos than they planned to transfer into a woman, and would have limited the number to no more than two or three, depending upon the woman's age. Proponents have suggested that this kind of legislation is sorely needed to protect both women and taxpayers from situations like Nadya Suleman's, in which the transfer of a large number of embryos resulted in a case of super-multiples with no visible means of support.

And we can all get behind that, right?

Well, not so fast. As Slate's William Saletan pointed out in a column this week, the bill, S.B. 169, is really a backdoor attempt to impose the same kind of "personhood" rights on embryos and fetuses that a state legislature in North Dakota recently passed. Under the guise of imposing sanity on the Wild West atmosphere still prevailing in some fertility clinics (and yes, Octomom is pretty much Exhibit A for what's wrong in that world), S.B. 169 would penalize all fertility patients, ban stem-cell research and declare that legally an embryo has rights that should be paramount (over the rights of living, breathing human beings).

Since the stem-cell and "personhood" issues are both facets of the whole reproductive freedom issue and most people have already made up their minds how they feel about them, I think it's most interesting to see how S.B. 169, if it ever were passed, would effect regular people seeking IVF or other fertility treatments. Under the bill's provisions, a mother could only have 2-3 embryos transferred, and due to the bill's "fertilize only as many as you transfer" language, she could not produce other fertilized eggs that could then be frozen and used in subsequent cycles (which is how nearly all current IVF patients proceed). This would vastly reduce the likelihood of success of each IVF cycle since not all fertilized eggs become transferrable blastocycts, and not all of those transferred blastocycts become implanted embryos, and not all of those embryos stick around long enough to become human babies; the more non-medical limitations placedon the number of eggs fertilized, the smaller the pool for even potential success. And given the cost of each IVF cycle, couples would quickly find themselves priced out of the fertility game unless they got very lucky, very early on.

As Saletan says of the bill's limits on egg fertilization:

How does this restriction "protect the mother" and "reduce the risk of complications" for her? It doesn't. If you wanted to protect the woman, you might limit the number of embryos that could be transferred to her womb, not the number that can be created in the dish. In fact, by limiting the number that can be created, you increase her risk of complications. The fewer eggs you fertilize, the lower your chances of producing an embryo healthy enough to be transferred and carried to term. That means a higher failure rate, which in turn means that women will have to undergo more treatment cycles, with the corresponding risks of ovarian hyperstimulation and advancing maternal age.

So why limit the number of embryos created per cycle? Because the bill's chief purpose isn't really to help women. It's to establish legal rights for embryos.

So don't be fooled. This kind of bill will no doubt make its debut in other state legislatures, particularly in states with a strong lobby against reproductive freedom and for embryo rights. If its advocates would come right out and say that's what they're fighting for, I'd have a lot more respect for them. Instead, by using impressive-sounding scientific language and making grand gestures toward women's health and taxpayer's dollars, they're trying to fool the public and use state legislative means to make an end run around Supreme Court precedent. As for women who only want a healthy baby or two, they become the innocent bystanders who stand to get hurt if bills like this pass.

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The Dr. Phil And OctoMom Show

Brett Singer — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:30:00 GMT

Who needs a publicist? Dr. Phil seems to have decided that he's going to ride the OctoMom Express as far as it will take him.

First, he convinced Nadya to accept help from Angels in Waiting. They may be sketchy, but if Dr. Phil says it's the right thing to do, then that's what

Then he visited the octuplets. Here's a clip:

I like the part where he says, "Oh, of course you see them all the time." Because we need to be reminded of that.

And now he's going to reveal what the arrangement is going to be -- but not until his next show! Because he cares about... ratings.

I understand that Dr. Phil is a TV host and he wants to make money. That's fine. But he pretends that he's being somehow helpful. That's not fine. I mean, he has exactly the same license to practice therapy that I do – none. Nadya Suleman needs actual help, and I don't just mean changing all those diapers. I mean, Angelina Jolie can't adopt all eight of her kids, right?

Source: All over the freakin' Internet

Image: Me and Photoshop

OctoMom's Second Publicist Quits

AUDIO - OctoMom 911 Calls Released

Realities of Discharging Octuplets

OctoMom Video Blog at RadarOnline

OctoMom Rejects Angels In Waiting Offer

OctoMom Says Denis Beaudoin is Not OctoDad

Gloria Allred Offers To Help OctoMom

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

Video: Homecoming For Octomom's Babies!

Angelina Jolie Could Always Use an Extra Baby

OctoMom's Second Publicist Quits

Brett Singer — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:23:00 GMT

Victor Munoz, the second publicist to take on the OctoMom as a client, has quit. He's also talking smack.

From Us Magazine:

"It just got to be too much," he says. "It's pretty much a free for all over there right now. They are freaking out right now.
"Not to sound arrogant, but those people depended on me for everything," he continues. "You have no idea what I’ve had to do for these people.
"Nadya got real greedy. This woman is nuts," he adds. "This I can say: what ultimately destroyed the business arrangement was personal reasons."

Here's the best part:

Munoz -- who plans to meet with his lawyers Monday to go over the terms of his contract and confidentiality clause -- did not go into further detail.

Oh! Well thank goodness he didn't go into any further detail. And I'm sure we're all thrilled that he's going to see what confidential information he can share.

It was never clear to me why Nadya needed a publicist. Anyone who worked for her should have realized that they were getting involved in a situation that was unlikely to end well. Having worked in PR, I can honestly say that sometimes a client is not worth it. In fact, the only thing that can make a difficult client more bearable is money. In this case, how could there be any money to be had? Suleman's previous flack, Joann Killeen, claimed that she was doing the job gratis, and bailed when she received death threats. Now maybe I'm the crazy one here, but when I hear that about an available job that pays nothing and comes with death threats, my first thought isn't, "Hey! Job opening! Cool!"

I guess Nadya's not the only one who likes the drama.

We now return to... the neverending story...

Source: Us Magazine

Image: Me and Photoshop

Realities of Discharging Octuplets

OctoMom Video Blog at RadarOnline

OctoMom Rejects Angels In Waiting Offer

OctoMom Says Denis Beaudoin is Not OctoDad

Gloria Allred Offers To Help OctoMom

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

OctoMom Loathes Being Pregnant

Realities of Discharging Octuplets

Brett Singer — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Here's a new twist on the neverending OctoMom story -- reality.

According to the blog Reality Rounds, discharging preemies, especially 8 of them, is always something that hospitals have to take very seriously. Caring for a premature baby is more difficult than caring for a child who was full-term. Even with a mother who isn't a quasi-celebrity, the babies aren't necessarily just released when the mother decides it's time to go.

This isn't always the case, however. Shannon says that when she arrived to pick up two preemies that she was adopting, no one did any due diligence to make sure she was able to take care of them. "I certainly wasn't visiting them and proving I could diaper and feed them daily, as I didn't know they were alive until the social worker called and said 'come and get your baby.'" Shannon wonders if this would have been the case if the babies had been white.

And Jeanne suspects that the real reason behind the hospital's reticence is legal in nature. "With a high publicity case like this, the hospital lawyers must be frothing at the mouth," she said.

(Note: we all chat by email about this stuff, that's where the quotes are from. In case you were wondering.)

When Nadya tells Dr. Phil that she is worried that the hospital won't release her babies, she should really be concerned with how exactly she is going to care for them. Babies are a tough job. Eight preemies? The mind boggles.

Source: Reality Rounds (thanks to Alice for the tip)

Image: Me and Photoshop

OctoMom Rejects Angels In Waiting Offer

OctoMom Says Denis Beaudoin is Not OctoDad

Gloria Allred Offers To Help OctoMom

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

OctoMom Loathes Being Pregnant

UPDATE! Octo-Mom Alert! Police Visits and a Child Services Investigation

Octo-Mom Birth Video to Fetch a Cool Million?

AUDIO - OctoMom 911 Calls Released

Brett Singer — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:02:00 GMT

We already know that Nadya Suleman called 911 when she couldn't find one of her kids. Now we can hear it.

"Help me! My son is missing! I'm going crazy! Where's my son? Where's my son?"

(Visit TMZ to hear the call, or listen to it below.)

It's sad to listen to. Bizarrely fascinating but sad. Most parents will relate to the first call somewhat -- Nadya thinks her five-year-old is missing. The thing is, she loses it completely, saying, "Oh my God, I'm going to kill myself." She is then admonished by the 911 operator to not say something like that in front of her children. "Keep yourself under control." When the kid comes back, says "mommy," it's heartbreaking.

This woman is a mess.

Then comes the second call. One of Nadya's kids calls 911 and hangs up. The 911 operator calls back, talks to the kid, who claims to be in charge of the home, eventually admitting that a babysitter is there. That part is kind of funny. The operator really earns her keep by getting an adult on the phone who says everything is OK.

The common thread between the two calls is chaos. I'm not a fan of chaos. With kids, it happens. With six kids, it probably happens a lot. With fourteen? Do I need to say it?

Forget "reality show." Actual reality has crept into this story.

A commenter over on MomLogic has a theory that I wish I could say I don't take any stock in but it's hard not to at this point: "The movie 'The Changeling' in which Angelina Jolie has scenes where she is frantically beseeching to get her lost son back opened on October 24. Trailers for the movie must have been all over the networks for days. This 911 call came in on Oct 27. Total coincidence, I am sure."

Oy. Vey.

Source: TMZ

Image: Me and Photoshop

OctoMom Video Blog at RadarOnline

OctoMom Rejects Angels In Waiting Offer

OctoMom Says Denis Beaudoin is Not OctoDad

Gloria Allred Offers To Help OctoMom

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

OctoMom Loathes Being Pregnant

UPDATE! Octo-Mom Alert! Police Visits and a Child Services Investigation

Octo-Mom Birth Video to Fetch a Cool Million?

Want a Blonde, Blue-Eyed Baby? Order One from Dr. Steinberg!

Shannon LC Cate — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:25:00 GMT

A doctor who has specialized in sex selection at his fertility clinics in Los Angeles and New York has announced a new offering to clients: hair and eye color selection.

Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg plans to use in vitro fertilization, combined with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to select for embryos with desirable traits. He offers an 80% probability of delivering parents' choices.

PGD was developed to help parents at high risk for genetic disorders select embryos that did not carry disease. A small amount of tissue is taken from in vitro embryos in the laboratory and tested for the disorder in question. Now that the human genome is slowly being unraveled more traits are being isolated for testability. In a market-driven reproductive medicine field such as we have in the United States, it is no surprise that non-medical uses would be found for such technology--and used for profit--sooner or later.

The process of IVF is no walk in the park (and it certainly isn't cheap). It is hard to imagine why anyone would go through it just to choose a baby's hair or eye color. PGD is also not a fool-proof procedure. It adds risk to embryo survival and its results have been known to be wrong. What Dr. Steinberg's new offering is more likely to mean is that people already undergoing IVF will be tempted to "add value" to the procedure by selecting for desired "cosmetic" traits.

In order for the idea to work, multiple viable embryos would have to be grown, allowing a choice in selection. The non-selected embryos would be left where all the other "extra" embryos created via IVF are left--frozen for later use or donation, destroyed or transferred along with the "desirable" embryos.

People like to debate the ethics of selecting for anything in reproductive medicine--even diseases and disorders. This new turn of events is likely to raise the ire of ethicists. But what I find most problematic is not the selection for certain physical features themselves, but the lack of basic education in genetics that lead people to believe that ordering up the "perfect" person is even possible. What's perfect in one climate, era and culture may be ill-suited to another. For example, while Sickle-Cell disease is crippling and life-threatening, mere carriers of the Sickle-Cell trait have a natural defense against Malaria. And you can't select for what you don't have. If there's nary a blonde in your or your partner-in-reproduction's family history, you're unlikely to have a "blonde embryo" to select when it comes to that. Ditto eye color and--alas--brain power (the genetic foundation of which is considerably murkier than hair anyway). And then of course there's the simple question, what's so great about blonde hair anyway? (Blonde hair and blue eyes are always foregrounded in these kinds of articles as the obvious choices anyone with a choice would make. I beg to differ. Children don't get more beautiful than my own black-haired, brown-eyed babes.)

Finally, I have to ask why all these resources in research, technology, people-power and hard, cold cash are being spent on something so trivial. We live in a world that desperately needs all those resources not just to cure important things like cancer, but to spread simple, low-tech but life-saving practices like vaccinations for children in poor regions. Okay, I don't have to ask. The answer is obviously profit for the doctor doing the job.

OctoMom Video Blog at RadarOnline

Brett Singer — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:00:00 GMT

I don't want to be mean here. I really don't. But I'm starting to feel sorry for Nadya Suleman and her children.

I really think she needs help. I don't mean financial help. Help from a doctor not named Phil.

In a new video blog posted exclusively at RadarOnline, she says "I want to be private." She means that she doesn't want people to know where she lives, because clearly she doesn't want to be, you know, actually private. "Being in the field I'm in, I know there's a lot of emotionally disturbed people in the world…I have trust issues."

She's not worried about anything, she's not overwhelmed. She's hiring help. The other moms are supportive, everything is FINE.

What?

You see her interacting with her children, who don't seem all that happy. The tape feels like an audition reel for a reality show.

Other highlights, in case you can't bear to watch the video:

-   New house, a rental. "I'm doing it myself," meaning no help from anyone. Unclear how it's possible to rent a 2800 square foot house with no job.
-    MSNBC says that the video "shows Suleman struggling to speak as one of her older six kids bites her, pulls her hair and slaps her in the face," but I didn't see anything terribly unusual. I mean, the kids don't look thrilled by the camera and are eventually ushered out of the room (presumably to a very weary grandmother, but you don't see that). Still, the kids' behavior looks like a kid trying to get mommy's attention.
-   This part I will just quote: "Suleman said her older children are already jealous of the octuplets. When a friend showed the kids a picture of their new siblings, 'they hit the picture,' Suleman said." Oy vey.

Also bizarre are her hand-written blog entries. In this one she talks about meeting Dr. Phil. (Because that's really what a mother of 14 should be thinking about.) By not typing her entries for her, Radar clearly wants us to see Nadya's nutty side. (Read the PDF file here.)

It's all fairly disturbing, actually. Hard to look, hard to look away.

Source: MSNBC, RadarOnline

OctoMom Says Denis Beaudoin is Not OctoDad

Gloria Allred Offers To Help OctoMom

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

Really Wanna Let Octomom Have it? Leave Her Alone

"Angels in Waiting" Apparently Still Waiting

OctoMom Loathes Being Pregnant

OctoMom Rejects Angels In Waiting Offer

Brett Singer — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:05:00 GMT

According to RadarOnline, Nadya OctoMom Suleman has rejected an offer from the group Angels In Waiting to "provide her with a temporary new home for six months."

Angels offer was pretty sweet. According to Radar: "around the clock individualized care by pediatric nurses and other early intervention professionals for her octuplets and their six other siblings." This is in addition to giving them A PLACE TO LIVE. Remember that the house she currently lives in -- her parents' -- is facing foreclosure.

Gloria Allred is all red with frustration -- actually, I don't know if that's true but I wanted to write that. Sorry. We'll learn how she feels later today when the attorney to the weird gives a press conference.

I can understand not accepting help from people for various reasons. In this case, I think Suleman should take what she can get, especially since she's already asking for help from anyone who is willing. So why turn this one down? Is it that she doesn't like Allred? She also seems to be rejecting offers of help from Denis Beaudoin, who said he'd give Nadya some money even if he wasn't the father. Can she really afford to be so, you know, choosy?

Commenter FoxyMoxie (thanks for the tip!) says that Allred will discuss the "'disturbing' phone conversations" she has had with the OctoMom. I mean, will this thing ever end?

Source: RadarOnline

Gloria Allred Offers To Help OctoMom

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

Really Wanna Let Octomom Have it? Leave Her Alone

"Angels in Waiting" Apparently Still Waiting

OctoMom Loathes Being Pregnant

Brett Singer — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:00:00 GMT

When lawyers represent mostly accident victims, we call them ambulance chasers. What about a shrink who only wants to talk to screwed up people who get lots of media coverage? We need a name for them. Oh wait -- there is one. Dr. Phil.

Yes, the man that Oprah unleashed on the world is at it again. This time he's chatting with Nadya Suleman. You know. The OctoMom! Where ya been, people? This is the only important news story in the world right now. Pay attention.

Here's a little video to whet your appetite:

Doesn't she sound like a delusional 'American Idol' contestant? It's not that you're single. It's that you're single, intentionally had TONS of babies, and have no way to support them. It's irresponsible. How much time could you possibly be spending with any of your kids, the six you already had or the octuplets, if you're always out doing interviews?

This quote was the one that got me:

When Dr. Phil asked her if she was addicted to being pregnant, Nadya responding [sic] saying, no, she absolutely loathes being pregnant and she looked into adoption after her third pregnancy.

She LOATHES being pregnant. So…why do it again? And again? (Reminds me of another Dr. Phil 'patient', Britney Spears -- 'Oops, I did it again / I had 8 more kids…')

And by the way. Of course you loathed being pregnant. You were pregnant with eight babies! That's like carrying around a Humvee in your stomach!

Having never been pregnant, I can safely say that I have no idea how it feels. But many of the women I've spoken to say that they do love it, at least at times. The baby kicking, the life growing inside of you -- that sort of thing.

Since I have no idea, I'll ask the moms out there -- did you "loathe" being pregnant like Nadya?

Source: EverythingOprah

Image: Me

Gloria Allred Offers To Help OctoMom

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

OctoMom Receives Death Threats

VIDEO-OctoMom And Doctor From Two Years Ago

UPDATE: GMA Snags an Interview with The Octuplet’s Baby Daddy!

Really Wanna Let Octomom Have it? Leave Her Alone

VIDEO-Octo Mom Publicist On GMA

What Octo-Mom Is Spending The Money On

Octuplet Mom Wants TV Career

Playdate: Four Times the Fun Says "I Could Have Been Octomom"

Shannon LC Cate — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:30:00 GMT

Michele, mother of triplets conceived via IVF tells all in her blog "Four Times the Fun." What does "all" include? Michele takes the uninitiated behind the scenes of IVF to discuss how hastily and under what pressure-cooker circumstances decisions are made about the number of embryos get transferred in an IVF procedure. She confesses that given her and her husband's own seat-of-the-pants decision making on transfer day, she might have become the mother of more than triplets, herself. Here's a sneak preview:

"[My husband] looked at me and said, "We're already in to this thing 40 grand and it isn't going to work, and we aren't freezing any again. I'm not shelling out another 5000 bucks to do IVIG on frozen crappy 4 cell embryos."

Then he looked at the doctor and said, "Put them all in. If two are really bad and not going to make it, then we aren't freezing them, so let it play out."

At no point when I was laying on the table with my bladder ready to explode did the doctor say to me, "Guidelines were issued in 1996 by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, with the intent to cut down the number of multiple births, particularly triplets and higher, that can result when many embryos are implanted and more than one takes. Big multiple births can lead to disastrous, life-threatening complications, lifelong disabilities such as cerebral palsy, and crushing medical costs."

No. He said, "Okay. That sounds great. Sorry about the wait. You'll be able to use the bed pan in just a few minutes, Mrs. S."

Michele also casts some helpful light on the subject of fertility specialists and regulation in a post about the ethics of what Nadya Suleman's doctor did. (The post was written before everything was known about Suleman's case, and has some inaccuracies, but her point is unchanged, regardless.)

Perhaps most interesting and useful for those of us who haven't undergone any fertility treatments or the difficult decisions they can entail, Michele's commenters are largely high-order multiple moms themselves, with their own IVF or medicated IUI stories to tell.

All in all, this blog adds a lot to the conversation about fertility medicine and drawing lines about and around it.

OctoMom Says Denis Beaudoin is Not OctoDad

Brett Singer — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:00:00 GMT

So you know that interview with Denis Beaudoin where he claimed to be the OctoDad? Nadya Suleman says that his pants, they are on fire. By that I mean he's lying, according to OctoMom. Suleman's new spokesperson Victor Munoz says that "Denis is definitely not the father."

What nobody is denying is that Denis donated sperm to Suleman on three different occasions. According to OctoPublicist Munoz, Denis twice "gave Suleman a sperm sample at home, which she held between her breasts to keep warm." Then a THIRD time, Denis "was brought to a fertility clinic after Suleman told him she had cancer and they were going to see a doctor." The sperm was placed directly into her womb, there were no embryos created, aaaaand… that's it. I'm done.

OK, one more detail. David Solomon is listed as the father of the oldest of Nadya's first 6 children, and Munoz says that there is one father for all 14 kids. But he won't confirm or deny that said father is Solomon.

Oh, and the hospital might not release the octuplets to Nadya. Seems they're concerned that she won't be able to care for them properly. So she called Dr. Phil. No. Really.

AHHHH!!!!

I'd call this a train wreck, but that's insulting because I kind of like trains. But I have to admit that I'm fascinated because there seem to be more details every other minute. It truly is… the never ending story.

Too much drama. Having kids is dramatic enough. Why include all of this other crap?

Source: ABC News

Image: Me, using Photoshop, using this from Amazon

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

OctoMom Receives Death Threats

VIDEO-OctoMom And Doctor From Two Years Ago

UPDATE: GMA Snags an Interview with The Octuplet’s Baby Daddy!

Really Wanna Let Octomom Have it? Leave Her Alone

VIDEO-Octo Mom Publicist On GMA

What Octo-Mom Is Spending The Money On

Octuplet Mom Wants TV Career

Gloria Allred Offers To Help OctoMom

Brett Singer — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:47:00 GMT

Remember Gloria Allred? No? Lucky you.

She's an attorney with a knack for representing clients involved with high-profile cases, such as Amber Frey (Scott Peterson), and the family of Nicole Brown Simpson (O.J.). She also made headlines when she took the controversial stance of questioning Michael Jackson's parenting skills. (That was sarcasm.) She actually went so far as to request that California Child Protective Services investigate how he treats his kids. (That, unfortunately, is true.)

Well, the media-loving lawyer is back and she wants to help out OctoMom Nadya Suleman's kids. MomLogic reports that Allred has a "plan to 'provide for the medical and emotional needs'" of all 14 members of her brood.

Through the charity Angels In Waiting, Allred says that the family can receive the help that they need without relying on public funds, although they will need private donations.

While it's obvious that Allred is a publicity hound (there are other, less polite words one could use, of course), Angels In Waiting seems to be a worthy organization. (Note: I haven't done a lot of research into the group, just a cursory skimming of their web site.) So in theory there is a positive outcome from Allred's actions. Still, why not be a champion for children all the time? Why does it only matter when there's a camera around? The OctoMom story is fascinating, but it's also very sad. The last thing those kids need is someone else trying to get famous off of them.

What do you think – is Allred legit? Or should she, you know, quit? (Apologies for the extremely dated reference.)

Image/Source: MomLogic

OctoMom Receives Death Threats

VIDEO-OctoMom And Doctor From Two Years Ago

Really Wanna Let Octomom Have it? Leave Her Alone

VIDEO-Octo Mom Publicist On GMA

What Octo-Mom Is Spending The Money On

Octuplet Mom Wants TV Career

OctoMom Says No Dating For Her

Brett Singer — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Remember the movie "The Neverending Story"? Nadya Suleman is starring in a real-life version.

Every day, heck, every hour, there a new detail emerges. I have two kids and never have enough time to do the things I need to do. Suleman, with six at home and eight more in the hospital, seems to have plenty of time to do interviews with anyone who wants her. (Maybe we should take Shannon's advice.)

ParentDish reports that the OctoMom told British newspaper The Sun that she will not date anyone until her youngest child turns 18. (Does that mean all eight of the new ones? Or just the kid that came out last? The mind boggles.)

She also said that she "can't remember" the last time she went on a date. Um, Nadya? You've said that you met the father/donor of your numerous offspring at a nightclub. Did that not count as a date? Maybe it was Girls' Night Out. ("Let's go, GNO…" – or should that be GYNO? G'night, ladies and gentlemen.)

So no hanky-panky for OctoMom for the next 18 years, adding to the 8 years that she has already done without. I guess The Bachlorette will have to look elsewhere for their next star.

Her reasoning is equally bizarre. "Boyfriends? I think I'd have to be extremely selfish. I cannot maintain a social life and be a mother. To even take one percent of every night and devote it to someone else, a stranger, would be wrong. I have to wait for that until my youngest have left school."

Is there a point when a journalist is going to ask Nadya about the charges leveled against her by, you know, her own mom and dad? That whole "she doesn't take care of the six kids she already has" thing? I guess not.

Source: ParentDish

Image

VIDEO-OctoMom And Doctor From Two Years Ago

Really Wanna Let Octomom Have it? Leave Her Alone

VIDEO-Octo Mom Publicist On GMA

What Octo-Mom Is Spending The Money On

Octuplet Mom Wants TV Career

Really Wanna Let Octomom Have it? Leave Her Alone

Shannon LC Cate — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:03:00 GMT

Recently, a certain celebrity gossip website said about Nadya Suleman, "that bitch is off the rails."

It was my final straw. Because yes, I agree, I'm no psychiatrist and I've never met the woman, but the attention-seeking single-mother-by-design of fourteen--including eight octuplets--is probably "off the rails." What I don't understand is why some people choose to react to her probable mental illness with name-calling like "bitch."

Well, I do realize it sells tabloids and/or generates blog hits or reflects already reflected light--however unflattering--on the writer. But commenters in threads following stories about her are filled with vitriol too. Nastiness flies like cold germs at a Chucky Cheese in January. And now it's an epidemic. Suddenly, we are all supposed to love to hate Nadya.

I just don't get it.

Here's why I don't hate Nadya:

1. I don't know her. I have no idea if she's truly an awful person, a misguided sweet person or a seriously ill person so out of touch with reality that it's impossible to judge her.

2. There is no way to actually get to know her. Magazine stories and television interviews and press conferences designed by a professional publicist are not going to tell me any more about her. It's all spin. Spin she's probably only partly controlling and even then, how the heck do I know what's truth or fiction or why she even wants it spun a particular way?

3. There are so many other forces to hate. There's the fertility industry and its unregulated ways. There's an unethical doctor out there who, apparently does this sort of thing with some frequency. There's the publicist who took the job of spinning Nadya. Nadya's idea to hire her? Probably. But again with the crazy. The publicist didn't have to agree to take the job. She could have said, "honey, you don't need a publicist, you need anti-psychotics." But there is money to be made in public train wrecks, isn't there? And let's not forget to hate the ridiculous romantic claptrap about motherhood that encourages women to view themselves as saints or goddesses just by virtue of having a vagina that once squeezed out a child or fourteen.

4. Finally, I have to say that all the poison cast towards Nadya Suleman reminds me uncomfortably of the same viciousness cast towards mothers who don't meet ever narrower, ever shifting culturally normative standards for all kinds of other reasons. Can't anyone else see that the judgement hurled at Suleman is just a stone's throw from the judgement hurled at any single mother, regardless of how she came by her children? Got pregnant the old-fashioned way? She's a slut. Used a sperm donor and hired a nanny? She's a selfish old maid. Needs some public assistance? She's a leech on the taxpayer. Self-supporting? She's a workaholic. And those judgements are yet another stone's throw from the ones that plague other mothers. Stay at home? You're a door mat, a bore and a bad example to your daughters. Work for money and use daycare? Why'd you bother to have kids if you didn't plan to raise them? Used fertility treatment? Obviously the good lord didn't want you to be a mother and you went against nature. Adopted? You stole a baby from its real mother to serve your own desires.

Do any of these sound familiar? And before you say "sure, but the one that sounds familiar to me is not fair, whereas Suleman really deserves our criticism," I say, it's all the same thing. It's the same big, tired, old argument that mothers are responsible for everything bad about children, families, society. It's the flip side of that saint/goddess nonsense.

We'd be doing ourselves a favor to quit judging women we don't even know for situations we have no real access to--especially when those mothers are clearly compromised in some serious ways that are not within their control. Whether it be mental illness, poverty or legal injustice that compromises them. If we'd not be judged ourselves, we ought to shut up about others too.

And if you really, really want to keep hating Nadya, nothing could hurt her more than letting her story die quietly so that the people who are really close to her can turn their attention to getting her the help she--and her 14 kids--really need (hint: it's NOT a t.v. show).

VIDEO-OctoMom And Doctor From Two Years Ago

The Poor Man's Angelina Jolie?

Ann Curry Scores Interview with Octuplet's Mom

VIDEO-Octo Mom Publicist On GMA

Octuplet Mom Wants TV Career

Octuplet Mom Launches Donation Website

Octomom and Her Bulging Pregnant Belly – Photos!

Only Child Syndrome Doesn't Explain Octo-Mom

Octuplets' Fertility Doctor Strikes Again!

Madeline Holler — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:01:00 GMT

The fertility doctor who is responsible for the birth of eight babies to a jobless single mother who already had six kids is in the news again.

The LA Times and KTTV Fox 11 are reporting that shortly after Nadya Suleman became pregnant with octuplets, her fertility doctor, Dr. Michael Kamrava, helped another mother get pregnant. She wanted one baby. But she's now five months along with quadruplets.

The mom-to-be's name has not been released, but here are the stunning details on her: she's 49-year-olds. She has no health insurance.

As with Suleman, Kamrava transferred eight embryos in treating this woman, who was recently hospitalized at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where she is on bed rest for the next two or three months.

From the LA Times:

The California Medical Board has said it is looking into the octuplets' case to determine whether a doctor may have violated any standards of care.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which has guidelines limiting the number of embryos that can be transferred depending on the woman's age and other circumstances, said it is also examining the doctor's practice. No laws govern this issue.

The guidelines apparently allow for the transfer of more embryos in the cases of much older women, which certainly raises some questions in the case of Suleman. However, the fact that this quads mom used eggs donated from a woman in her 20s means that the risk of carrying multiples was high.

Again, the Times:

"I do think it is concerning, and dangerous, especially to the mother. She is close to 50. When women get to be that age, our fear is the cardiovascular complications, such as stroke or heart attack. That's how serious this is," said Dr. John Jain, a fertility specialist with knowledge of the case.

The woman,an apartment manager, asks to be left in privacy and says her circumstances are different from Suleman's. She has three children from a previous marriage and her husband, a contractor in his 30s, has none.

A woman answering the phone at Kamrava's West Coast IVF clinic had this to say about the quads:

"If [a] mother wants to bring four kids, so what?"

So what? Just put'em on the tab ...

Ex-Employee of OctuDoc Shocked He's Still In Business

Photo: Telegraph.co.uk