When fertility treatments go bad

I've get silent on the issue of the newly born California octuplets for the past several days, waiting to get a better sense of the story to be sure I had my facts straight. Now that I do, I have to say something.

The whole situation disgusts me.

Let me be clear. Fertility treatments are a God-send for many women. This one included. Drugs like Comid or Letrozole, and treatments like IVF and IUI have made it possible for women who would have otherwise been unable to conceive have children that would have otherwise been impossible to conceive.

However, in recent years fertility treatments have increasingly cared more about a woman's unadulterated need for a baby than the health of her babies or the ethics of the situation. First, came a small but disturbing number of women in their fifties and sixties whom doctors assisted in conceiving through IVF. That any doctor would assist a woman past menopause conceive and give birth to a child is, in my opinion, the height of irresponsibility.

Now, however, we've moved to a whole new level of disturbing. The entire situation surrounding the octuplet mom is a horror show: already the mother of six children under eight, the never been married mom has used IVF to conceive all of her 14 children, all of whom are seven or under. Why did she do it? Her own mother thinks she has an unhealthy obsession. As for her, she says she did it to overcome her lonliness following a dysfunctional childhood. Guess what, lady? We all grew up in the nineties - we ALL had dysfunctional childhoods. And I can't think of a single dysfunction that fourteen babies will cure.

I am staunchly prochoice because I firmly believe that no woman should be forced to bear a child she does not want. But there is a flip side to the abortion debate, and this irresponsible and ridiculous woman has highlighted it - when it comes to fertility treatments, simply wanting children no matter the circumstances or the dangers is not reason enough to be medically induced to have them.

This is not to suggest that I believe there should be a limit on the number of children that can be brought into a family. However, a woman who insists on repeated IVF treatments that involve implanting an unethically large number of embryos for no other reason than her own gratification and despite the real health concerns that multiple births can entail is not a loving mother who simply wants a large family. She is disturbed and deluded and possibly mentally ill.

By the way - read the Today preview of the upcoming interview with the octuplet's mom again and notice the timeline. She says she tried unsuccessfully to conceive for seven years before trying her first IVF treatment to conceive her now seven year old. She's 33. Seven years plus seven years plus nine months. How old was she when she started this horror show? 17? 18?