Did everyone see this article?
There are so many problems with this. First and foremost, it gives ART (assisted reproductive technologies) and especially IVF a bad name. Most people will read the article and think "oh they must've had IVF," which is completely off the mark. No doctor with a brain will put in 8 or 9 embryos for an IVF transfer. None. The most likely scenario here is that the woman was medicated and had an IUI (or timed intercourse). It's possible that her follicles weren't monitored, because no doctor with a brain would let a woman trigger ovulation and have an IUI (or timed intercourse) with 8 or more possible follicles. My doctor nearly changed our first IUI to an IVF because I had 4 possible. As my father A"H would've said, "if the doctor had half a brain, it would be lonesome."
Secondly, having high-order multiples is VERY dangerous--for both mother and babies. So many things can go wrong, and you notice that this is only the 2nd set that's ever been born with all babies alive. With the 1st set, one of the babies died shortly after birth anyway. It's just not safe. Now, I'm against selective reduction of embryos, so I would never put myself in a situation where I would have to even consider it.
Yes, it's wonderful that they had 8 live babies, but this is not a "happy ending" and the parents should never have been put in a situation where they would have 8 babies. We have no idea about the quality of life that these children will have or if all will survive infancy. *sigh*
I got to listen to my co-workers discuss this this morning. One of them said something about "fertility treatments" with a sneer on her face. I'm in no shape to be the IF ambassador today, so I was just quiet. It's a pity that this is the picture of IF treatments that so many people have, that they don't realize how many of their friends and relatives have had treatment and it doesn't turn into octuplets.
ReplyDeletethere was a girl on webmd that triggered when she was told not to, got pregnant with high order, then was beside herself looking for support because she was gonna reduce...unreal.
ReplyDeletea girl I work with did IVF, put back 2....ended up with 4... 3 identicals and a singleton! www.thegiggleboys.com
Agree with you...enough said.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. People know that I'm going to a RE lately and they all were saying that they hope it won't happen to me. It won't! I wouldn't allow it!
ReplyDeleteOh I have been reading about these births....IVF...if the doctors did it, what were they thinking? If the parents asked for it, what were they thinking?
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