How Far Should The Doctor Go?, responsibility

[flora]

I am sure everyone has heard about the woman in CA who just gave birth to 8 children, already having 6 at home. What are your feelings on this? Do you think doctors should be more responsible for their patients? Do doctors that "specialize" in a field (fertilization, plastic surgery) get involved enough with the patient's psychology and possible potential problems that might occur with their treatment?

[Harlot]

I think that lady is nuts. Frist how is she going to surport all of those kids? She's not married from what I hear so where does the money come from,the state ,child surport. If they make a movie about her she'll get some money that that, write a book well their so more money. What was she thinking!!!

As far the doctors they probably have $$$$$$$$ signs in their eyes. I can't see any GOOD doctor in his right mind saying "let's do it". With 6 kids already (in this day) he should of said lets not have so many and talk her into that,or said NO.

[Shadows]

Don't get me going on this irresponsible act by both mother and doctor!

Even the womans mother said she washes her hands of this whole mess and she was the one caring for the other 6 kids!

[Harlot]

My son and Daughter in-law are having a baby in July (the old fashion way) and I would kill them both ( not really ) if they did something that irresponsible. As much as I love my grandbabies that still isn't right. You only have what you can take care of and there's no way she can.

[Dogshirt]

Stupid twits, both her AND the doc!

[piobmhorpiper]

If the baby factory can't even care for her first six children then the new babies should be put up for adoption or become wards of the state and doctor fertilizer should have to pay for their upbringing and future educational needs!

What do you think of sixty year olds that give birth? Check out this story from Calgary.

CALGARY — A New Jersey woman who made headlines when she gave birth to twin boys at age 60 two years ago has some advice for a Calgary woman who just delivered her first children in her seventh decade.

Enjoy raising your babies. Don’t focus on your age.

Frieda Birnbaum’s words of encouragement came Thursday after a spokesperson for the Calgary Health Region confirmed that a 60-year-old woman had given birth at a city hospital.

The health region wouldn’t give details, but CBC Newsworld was reporting that the woman had twins after fertility treatment in India. Determined to be a mother, she reportedly tried for decades to conceive naturally and with medical intervention. One effort in India failed when she and her husband paid a doctor for in-vitro fertilization, but he absconded with their money.

They returned to Canada and again saved for years, the CBC reported, until they had enough to go back to India and try again with donor eggs. The woman became pregnant with triplets, but one had to be terminated because of medical problems.

Birnbaum says the new mother needs to know she’s making history for herself and other women. “Sixty’s just a number,” she said in an interview from her home in Saddle River, N.J.

She should enjoy the opportunity to raise beautiful children and to help other women younger than herself not to fear that getting older means that you’re old.”

The CBC said Ranjit Hayer’s two boys were delivered seven weeks prematurely by caesarean section at Calgary’s Foothills Hospital on Tuesday.

The mother was recovering in intensive care, while the twins were in neo-natal intensive care. The CBC said one of the babies was breathing with the help of special equipment, but doctors said both boys were doing well.

The network quoted the woman’s obstetrician, Colin Birch, as saying there are social and ethical considerations beyond the medical ones.

He said he can’t imagine being 65 and having two five-year-olds running around.

“There’s so much more involved in this,” he told the CBC. “It’s not just having the babies and being born.

“There’s not just one generation gap here. There’s two generation gaps. They’re really what would be like the age of grandparents.”

Birnbaum’s twin boys will turn two in May. She said it hasn’t been the least bit difficult keeping up with them. She’s as tired as any new mom with twins, she said, but it’s not related to her age.

“My experience with them has been wonderful,” said Birnbaum, who already had children. “I haven’t found any loss of energy.”

She said the birth of her twin sons attracted attention from around the world. Many younger women scorned her decision and those closer to her age supported her.

Women who use fertility treatments to become mothers long past natural child-bearing years may not be acting in the best interests of their children, said a medical ethicist from McGill University in Montreal.

No one has the right to interfere in natural conception, but ethics are different when medical advances are involved, said Margaret Somerville.

“Society has both a right and a duty to put regulations around the use of these technologies,” she said. “Those restrictions and rules should be fashioned from the perspective of what’s in the best interest of any future child.”

Somerville said the ethics become particularly complicated because most older women have stopped ovulating and use donor eggs, so they don’t even have a genetic link to the children they deliver.

It’s unlikely an adoption would be allowed to a mother of that age unless she was a grandparent, Somerville pointed out.

“Generally we don’t, and why don’t we do that? Because we think it’s not best for a child to have a parent that much older than them.”

Somerville said guidelines for fertility treatments were supposed to be laid out in the federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act passed in 2004, but the issue remains unclear.

“It’s all a bit of a mess, really.”

Birnbaum, a psychologist who also has two grown children and an eight-year-old son, said she was overwhelmed by the global interest in the birth of her baby boys. She recalled sneaking out the back of the hospital to avoid the media that gathered even before their birth. She repeatedly turned down book and movie offers to focus on her children.

There’s something about the age of 60 that upsets people much more than even new mothers in their 50s, she said.

“I think 60 hit a nerve,” she said. “The six in it just seems so much older than 59, or 55.”

Still, she said she’s never mistaken for a grandmother and she believes that she’s ahead of a trend that will see older mothers more accepted as people try to balance careers and children.

“When I look 10 years down the line, it’s not going to be as much of a stigma.”

[flora]

Thank you for your thoughts, everyone and thank you for the article, piobmhorpiper.

"The network quoted the woman’s obstetrician, Colin Birch, as saying there are social and ethical considerations beyond the medical ones.

Somerville said guidelines for fertility treatments were supposed to be laid out in the federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act passed in 2004, but the issue remains unclear.

So do you think the doctor should be brought up on review?

I don't begrudge anyone the right to have a child(ren). The woman from CA has a bachelor degree and was working on a master so she can think for herself which makes her responsible for herself. But I do question the doctor's judgement. Which raises the question just how far should a doctor go to obtain information about his patient. Was he aware of her social standard? Did he question how these children would be taken care of? Should he have to?

Flora

[MacEoghainn]

Might I suggest that everyone consider reading Ann Coulter's new book "Guilty" to obtain some insight on the current phenomena of the "Sainted" single mother and what they are doing to their children and our society.

[ogdenmusic]

Simply incredible, On CNBC last night she was interviewed and drilled with questions. "I'm going to love my children and be at home with them, because they need me." Well yeah!

How did she pay for this treatment? What kind of life are these children going to have? Yes the doctor bares resposibilty for implanting the 6 embryos.

Again! Simply incredible

[delainesunshine1978]

I do have my own feelings on the matter but I shouldnt say anything since I am working on being nicer.

I will say that I dont understand why this kind of stuff cannot be kept between the people it involves.. I see all kinds of articles where news reporters dive into somebodies business and plaster it all over.


I try my best not to read the stuff, as I feel if I did then I would be just like the nosey neighbor who is always peeking over the fence trying to see what the people next door are up to!

It is very hard still, the magizenes are right there and I see a juicy article and my eyes are just dying to read it......