Octuplets -- Crazily Irresponsible
John LantosFebruary 4, 2009
People seem to be bending over backwards to make this seem like a semi-reasonable decision by both the mother and the doctor who transferred eight embryos.
Why???
The mother is crazily irresponsible (having 6 small children at home, nobody to help her, and having eight more is insane - it is NOT like someone choosing to have a large family and giving birth to fourteen children, one at a time, over fifteen years.) It is absolutely impossible that she could take care of these children herself. To have them is absurdly, obviously, parental negligence.
A doctor who transfers 8 embryos - regardless of the woman's social situation - is professionally negligent - putting the woman and the embryos at risk. It violates professional standards for IVF, violates the best interests of the babies-to-be, and violates the doctor's fiduciary responsibility to take care of the woman's health.
The woman should have been sent for counseling, not IVF. The doctor should lose his license.
Link:
Octuplets, 6 Siblings, and Many Questions
Randal C. Archibold
Whittier Journal
February 3, 2009
A bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, Arthur L. Caplan, said the case posed thorny ethical questions, including whether a doctor should have accepted Ms. Suleman for fertility treatment considering she already had six children and the costs of caring for 14 offspring.
Labels: invitro fertilization, medical ethics, octuplets
posted by Practical Bioethics at
7:43 AM
4 Comments:
I agree this case seems that it should have been held to a much higher ethical standard. Is there any push for standards of care amongst fertility clinics? Since they operate independently of many hospitals they never really come under the purview of a traditional ethics board. Would this be discussed at the state level then?
Here is an interesting take on the issue of shame in a case like this.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I am a child welfare specialist and attorney from Tennessee and could have written this original comment myself. This story on the news has made my professional and personal ethics radar go off in about 50 directions. If any medical doctor met with that mother and listened to her for 5 minutes, he should have realized that there was something wrong with this woman's desire to have children--she was trying to make up from something missing in her childhood. Also, when she referred to the six embryos as "her babies", that should have been another clue to her mental state. That doctor should lose his medical license. She will never be able to give all of her children the time, attention and direction they will need to thrive. My guess is that the state of California will soon be burdened in one way or another with these children. Many of them will probably end up in the custody of the State, which is without question the worst parent of all.
I totally agree with you, she is been irresponsible, and depending on the income the babies could be at risk of danger.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home