Is Octuplet Mom's Reality Show Deal a New Low in Celebrity Obsession?

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The discussion centers around Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets, who reportedly already had six children prior to giving birth to the eight. Concerns are raised about her decision to undergo fertility treatments while living with her parents and relying on welfare. Many participants express disbelief at her choice to have more children given her financial instability and the challenges of raising 14 kids in a small home. There are speculations about the legality and ethics of her fertility treatments, with some suggesting she may have obtained drugs illegally. The conversation also touches on societal responsibilities, the implications of single motherhood, and the potential burden on taxpayers. Participants question the motivations behind her desire for a large family, with some suggesting it may stem from a desire for attention or financial gain through media opportunities. Overall, the thread reflects a mix of outrage, concern, and curiosity about the implications of her actions on her children and society.
  • #31
8 Is Enough: The Limits to Human Reproduction
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090130/sc_livescience/8isenoughthelimitstohumanreproduction
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.
. . . .
I wish the children well.
 
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  • #32
Last March, Suleman filed bankruptcy, claiming nearly $1 million in liabilities — mostly because of a bad house investment, her attorney said. Countrywide Home Loans approved a $492,000 mortgage for Suleman in 2006 for a second home she bought in Whittier for $615,000. In 2008, the bank began foreclosure procedures. The house was sold in August for $369,375.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, Suleman said her daughter did not expect to have octuplets, but that all the implanted embryos "happened to take."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/family-in-octup.html

So she was in bankruptcy. AND she went ahead and had 8 embryos implanted? And she already had 6 children?

This isn't just under the counter fertility drugs gone awry.
 
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  • #33
turbo-1 said:
8 babies at once is a good-sized litter, and she's going to milk that for all it's worth.

No pun intended?
 
  • #34
I heard local (LA area) talk show hosts discussing this on my way to work.
they've received a bunch of information for various sources and are unsure how reliable it is but they gave a rather full picture of what they gathered.
if I remember this all correctly she was originally in a relationship, engaged I believe, and received fertility treatments which resulted in the first litter of six. supposedly her fiance, upon finding out she was having six babies, left her.
as to whether she is receiving child support there is rumour that she was artificially inseminated with donor sperm which would mean there is no father.
for the second pregnancy, unless I missed something, I believe she was single and supposedly jobless taking care of her first six and receiving welfare. supposedly she went to a fertility clinic in mexico and was artificially inseminated. so again supposedly no father.

some or much of that may be inaccurate.
 
  • #35
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-octuplets31-2009jan31,0,6246659.story

AvgSN said:
if I remember this all correctly she was originally in a relationship, engaged I believe, and received fertility treatments which resulted in the first litter of six. supposedly her fiance, upon finding out she was having six babies, left her.
The LATimes story says she had twins and 4 other children, before the octuplets. I think that likely rules out the possibility of sextuplets (sextuplets, then octuplets - jeez, that would be crazy!)

as to whether she is receiving child support there is rumour that she was artificially inseminated with donor sperm
This seems to be true.
I believe she was single and supposedly jobless taking care of her first six and receiving welfare.
Also confirmed.
supposedly she went to a fertility clinic in mexico and was artificially inseminated.
Nothing is said about this, so it is still a possibility.
 
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  • #36
Who needs fertility drugs?Just call for me...superstud.
 
  • #37
Grandma: Octuplets mom obsessed with having kids

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.

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 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.

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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090131/ap_on_re_us/octuplets
 
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  • #38
"And she said it's because she got paid for it."
And that is SO WRONG!

. . . 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, . . .
She probably meets the legal definition of insane, the inability to discern 'right from wrong'. She needs psychiatric help.
 
  • #39
Evo said:
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.

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

I see. Just cleaning out the fridge. Making sure nothing goes to waste?
 
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  • #40
LowlyPion said:
I see. Just cleaning out the fridge. Making sure nothing goes to waste?
It would appear that way.
 
  • #41
I have to wonder what is meant by "And she said it's because she got paid for it." Does this mean she expects the taxpayers to pay for her selfish and irresponsible behavior, or is she planning to sell her offspring? :rolleyes:
 
  • #42
Maybe someone told her once they liked the way she shook her moneymaker? And she just misapplied that to her life?

But you can't call her completely irresponsible. After all she was really only planning on having another 6 not all the 8 that took.
 
  • #43
Astronuc said:
I have to wonder what is meant by "And she said it's because she got paid for it." Does this mean she expects the taxpayers to pay for her selfish and irresponsible behavior, or is she planning to sell her offspring? :rolleyes:

No but as said the business world might. Her motivation was to have another baby than the six she already had, we should probably hold off making judgements until we know the whole story.
 
  • #44
The Dagda said:
..., we should probably hold off making judgements until we know the whole story.

What fun is that?
 
  • #45
LowlyPion said:
What fun is that?

Good point, I was just being needlessly wise, carry on. :biggrin:
 
  • #46
The Dagda said:
No but as said the business world might. Her motivation was to have another baby than the six she already had, we should probably hold off making judgements until we know the whole story.
Not according to people that knew her, she was wanting a dozen kids.
 
  • #47
First thing that popped into my mind:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U0kJHQpvgB8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U0kJHQpvgB8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

DVD available for $10https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000A2UBNE/?tag=pfamazon01-2099
 
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  • #48
Can you imagine a dog having 64 puppies ?!?
 
  • #49
lisab said:
Can you imagine a dog having 64 puppies ?!?

That would set up a real competition come feeding time. At from between 6 - 10 nipples, they'd need to be fed in 7 - 11 shifts. I think at that point feeding would just be considered to be continuous.

Poor mom.
 
  • #50
And does the ***** expect that her owners should pay for her selfish an irresponsible behaviour?
 
  • #51
I have no idea of what * means. Are you talking about yourself ?
 
  • #52
lonton said:
I have no idea of what * means. Are you talking about yourself ?

He means 'female dog.'
 
  • #53
Thanks cristo, :biggrin:
 
  • #54
How many is too many?

I think the answer in this case is 14, as you and I will be paying mama prolificas bills.
 
  • #55
Phrak said:
How many is too many?

I think the answer in this case is 14, as you and I will be paying mama prolificas bills.

So do you think society should decide how many children a woman should be allowed to bear? There is some precedent for this.
 
  • #56
Vanadium 50 said:
So do you think society should decide how many children a woman should be allowed to bear?
In Suleman's case - yes! Or put another way, does society have a right to prevent one from imposing one's burden on the rest of society?

Does society have the right to expect one to be responsible for one's acts, one's care, or one's children?
 
  • #57
Gokul43201 said:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-octuplets31-2009jan31,0,6246659.story

The LATimes story says she had twins and 4 other children, before the octuplets. I think that likely rules out the possibility of sextuplets (sextuplets, then octuplets - jeez, that would be crazy!)

This seems to be true.
Also confirmed.
Nothing is said about this, so it is still a possibility.

I was working off of memory so I may be quite wrong on some of these "facts".
One of the crazier rumours is that she had all of these children by the same donor and that the donor is known. If this is the case we could see some interesting court cases.
 
  • #58
Vanadium 50 said:
So do you think society should decide how many children a woman should be allowed to bear? There is some precedent for this.

I think laws of entitlement decide this. This is an extreme case. We've already been through 'The Great Society' in the democrat party's successful bid for the black vote. I think we should expect to live with it, as the extremes of that system, that monitarily encouraged fatherless families dependent on the public treasury, has been greatly reduced.

Am I wrong? Too much entitlement encouragements? Or too little help for those in need?
 
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  • #59
And now for the rest of the story ...
Octuplets’ mother wants Oprah to turn her into a $2m TV star
... Nadya Suleman, 33, plans a career as a television childcare expert after it emerged last week that she already had six children before giving birth on Monday.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5627531.ece

Octuplets' Mom Hires An Agent
Hattie Kauffman: She Hopes To Become TV Childcare Expert To Earn Living; She Used Settlement Proceeds For In-Vitro ... Suleman's mother told CBS News Nadya paid for in vitro fertilization with money from a legal settlement after a work accident.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/02/earlyshow/health/main4769209.shtml

I'd say she's looking like a prime time opportunist.

Next thing we'll know she will be attending an Alfalfa Club Dinner?
 
  • #60

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