Octuplet mom: Can you justify that level of anger in public?

[Anonymous]

Okay, I get that people are upset that this young mom had invitro as a single mom without any care as to how she'll support all these children. She's likely hoping to live off of some support. This angers people who think nobody should be intentionally putting themselves in such a situation. But the death threats? The nasty phone message left for her to return to Iraq, to die, etc...are horrifying. What kind of sub-human beings are walking around me?

Don't tell me there aren't any single moms in DC repeatedly having children they can not care for. Granted, they're doing it the old fashioned way whereas this mom did invitro. But what's the difference? Why aren't people angry with the urban single mom in DC with three kids from three different fathers who can't feed her kids properly? I know a mom who actually adopted more children while she was single just to get more aid. This is not that unusual.

It's done, she has babies that need community support now. Why can't people put aside their venom and try to help babies in need now? Do they really want these babies orphaned and the mom dead?

[Anonymous]

Actually, I'd like the state to intervene and terminate parental rights and place the babies in adoptive homes, one or two at a time max.

[Anonymous]

I'm not angry at the mom - she's clearly got some psychiatric issues and a tenuous relationship with reality.

I'm very angry at the doctors, who were most likely not mentally ill - just amoral.

[Anonymous]

Timing is everything! If the economy was great and people were not losing sleep over feeding their kids and losing their homes, people would be more "forgiving" of this woman. A lot of people on the Net support this woman, regardless. It's a sign of the times. As the economy tanks, people will get meaner and meaner and look for scapegoats. Can you say Germany after WWI? How did that work out?

[Anonymous]

The children should be taken away and placed in good homes. Period. It is a ridiculous situation.

[Anonymous]

Agree that CPS needs to get involved and remove the children from the home, and provide them with adoptive families, where they can get the love, attention, and financial resources so they can thrive. This woman has NO BUSINESS doing what she did. And this is coming from someone who is NOT a right-wing, pro-lifer. I am about as left and liberal as they come, and fully believe in a woman's reproductive rights. However, this is unfair to ALL of her children. She is a sicko who is clearly unfit.

So, yes, I believe that the level of public anger is justified. Not only is this sicko woman being cruel to her existing 6 kids, but cruel to her new 8 who will undoubtedly have a host of medical problems due to their prematurity. She has no job, no home, and no income! This isn't about being a single Mom...this is about a psychologically disturbed individual who has a hoarding problem (similar to those animal hoarders you see on Animal Planet with 100 cats).

CPS in CA took away Britney Spears' two kids...and she is a wealthy celebrity with nannies, etc. Octo-Mom should lose her children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, I get that people are upset that this young mom had invitro as a single mom without any care as to how she'll support all these children. She's likely hoping to live off of some support. This angers people who think nobody should be intentionally putting themselves in such a situation. But the death threats? The nasty phone message left for her to return to Iraq, to die, etc...are horrifying. What kind of sub-human beings are walking around me?

Don't tell me there aren't any single moms in DC repeatedly having children they can not care for. Granted, they're doing it the old fashioned way whereas this mom did invitro. But what's the difference? Why aren't people angry with the urban single mom in DC with three kids from three different fathers who can't feed her kids properly? I know a mom who actually adopted more children while she was single just to get more aid. This is not that unusual.

It's done, she has babies that need community support now. Why can't people put aside their venom and try to help babies in need now? Do they really want these babies orphaned and the mom dead?

I think the situation you mentioned (in bold) does anger a lot of people. I think people get really tired of seeing poor, single moms have tons of babies by different fathers and then relying on the taxpaper to pick up the slack. It angers me to no end. That being said, the octuplet mom is in a far more egregious situation so people are much more up in arms. And as they should be (though I don't agree with harassing the woman or death threats). This Angelina wannabe has no business bringing this many children into the world she can't care for. Not only is it ridiculous because she is as a single parent with no job, but she is putting a huge burden on her own parents and the state. It is incredibly irresponsible and simply not fair to the kids. So I agree with many pps that the babies should be taken away and given to infertile couples who have been waiting for years to raise a child or other functional families. We have too many people in society who can't have kids and should and far too many who have kids and shouldn't.

[Anonymous]

Okay, I'm going to play devil's advocate here...

Should we then take the numerous kids that single moms today are having away from them and place them in adoptive homes too?

This octuplet mom has the support at least of her parents and a home to live in. She has an education but is not able to use it because she's caring for the kids now. Single moms with numerous kids in DC rarely have that kind of support or that kind of an education.

There was a family on TV with a couple who had 18 kids (they are religious and do not believe in birth control). Nobody is taking their children away. I doubt highly the father is able to support his kids, send his kids to college on just his income alone. Impossible. I'm sure they are receiving some degree of support. Why haven't we taken their children away?

Why are people looking to rip this mom of her parental rights and instead have helped other families with 8, 14, 18 kids? Is it really just because people are angry at the poor economic times and are looking to bash anyone who appears to be sucking off the system? If so, this is also hypocritical. What about every single person in the unemployment line. I'd like to know how far they got in their education? Do they have a PhD in chemical engineering and are still collecting unemployment insurance? Doubtful. More likely they scarcely have a degree and that is why they're in the unemployment insurance line...yes, sucking off the system too just like the octuplet mom. Had they completed their education, maybe majored in something that is in demand such as IT or medicine or engineering, nursing, or physical therapy they would not need to suck off the system. So how can they say their situation is vastly different from octuplet mom? I would rather my tax dollars go to supporting babies than grown adults who made bad decisions in not completing their education or majoring in areas not in demand by the market.

My grandmother had 12 children. My grandfather died when the kids were teenagers. But the vast majority of them still got a college education. Several got MBA's and PhD's also. She did this with community support. Some of these children, my uncles, are now community leaders and leaders in their occupation. They now donate to charities themselves and support veterans associations, march of dimes, cancer associations, etc...They are productive and giving adults. But the children were not split up from their mother. Instead, the community kept them together but simply provided help.

So before you think to terminate parental rights (done in the most heinous of circumstances such as a drug addict parent, exteme neglect) or talk about splitting the family up, look inyour ownhouse and ask if you have ever received any help from the system or if there are people in your back yard whose families should also be split up.

[Anonymous]

The difference with the Octomom situation is that she put the health of 8 tiny babies in serious jeopardy by doing what she did.

[Anonymous]

What I find irritating about the situation is the mom's love for publicity and her sense of entitlement that the public should be as joyful about her babies as she is. When my babies were born, my family, friends and I were overjoyed. Yet I did not expect the general public to celebrate or to help me support my children! Now, if Nadya agreed to allow 8 childless couples to adopt her newest babies (or 4 couples could take 2 babies each) , this would be cause to celebrate. The situation could be a win-win if she didn't have that big, fat sense of entitlement to do whatever the heck she wants without taking responsibility.

[Anonymous]

I also love this woman's distorted sense of reality. What about when she said "this is only a temporary situation. When I get out of school I will be able to support them all." Is she stupid, delusional? When you get our of school Nadya at most you will make $50k a year. Which is NOTHING in comparision to what it will take to support these kids. What about those student loans you are using right now? Are you not going to pay those back? Who is going to watch 14 kids while you go to school? I mean seriously, we have one child, make considerably more than NS and I still feel stretched at times.

[Anonymous]

Not to be petty, but did her face look weird to you?
Like Michael Jackson, weird?
Like her reality is different than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The difference with the Octomom situation is that she put the health of 8 tiny babies in serious jeopardy by doing what she did.

THe alternative would have been to:
1) Destroy the embryo's but due to her belief that embryos are life, she did not want to do that.
2) Implant only 2 at a time - she did not want to freeze the embryo's because the thawing out process destroys many embryo's

Would it have been better to have those embroyo's destroyed or frozen and run the risk of having them not survive the thawing out process?

Yes, she put them in jeopardy but so does the 38-40 year old mom who chooses to have a child with her increased liklihood of genetic disorders and chromosomal abnormalities, so does the mother who already has one special needs child such as with autism but chooses to have more children, so does any mother who has a direct relative with a disease or disorder severe enough to require state aid such as autism, but still opts to have children, so does the adult who regularly lives off of hamburgers and french fries and then gets sick with cancer or diabetes without decent medical insurance.

CNN just reported last night that the babies are actually healthy btw. You can't say until the children are about 2 whether they have serious neurological disorders. They may have issues, but maybe none severe enough that would make the child a dependent of the state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also love this woman's distorted sense of reality. What about when she said "this is only a temporary situation. When I get out of school I will be able to support them all." Is she stupid, delusional? When you get our of school Nadya at most you will make $50k a year. Which is NOTHING in comparision to what it will take to support these kids. What about those student loans you are using right now? Are you not going to pay those back? Who is going to watch 14 kids while you go to school? I mean seriously, we have one child, make considerably more than NS and I still feel stretched at times.

If you are stretched, then don't donate to NS. But people who do have wealth should and likely will donate to her. I have heard she has about $400,000 worth of donations already set aside forher children. People will separate the issue of Nadia and her children. Her children will need help and many people have big hearts for helping children. If I had more money I would donate myself.

One day any one of us can end up needing state support of some kind. Perhaps it will be when we are retired. Perhaps it will be when we lose our jobs. Perhaps it will be when grandma comes over to care for our kids so that we can work. In some way we are getting the help we need from others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, I'm going to play devil's advocate here...

Should we then take the numerous kids that single moms today are having away from them and place them in adoptive homes too?

This octuplet mom has the support at least of her parents and a home to live in. She has an education but is not able to use it because she's caring for the kids now. Single moms with numerous kids in DC rarely have that kind of support or that kind of an education.

There was a family on TV with a couple who had 18 kids (they are religious and do not believe in birth control). Nobody is taking their children away. I doubt highly the father is able to support his kids, send his kids to college on just his income alone. Impossible. I'm sure they are receiving some degree of support. Why haven't we taken their children away?

Why are people looking to rip this mom of her parental rights and instead have helped other families with 8, 14, 18 kids? Is it really just because people are angry at the poor economic times and are looking to bash anyone who appears to be sucking off the system? If so, this is also hypocritical. What about every single person in the unemployment line. I'd like to know how far they got in their education? Do they have a PhD in chemical engineering and are still collecting unemployment insurance? Doubtful. More likely they scarcely have a degree and that is why they're in the unemployment insurance line...yes, sucking off the system too just like the octuplet mom. Had they completed their education, maybe majored in something that is in demand such as IT or medicine or engineering, nursing, or physical therapy they would not need to suck off the system. So how can they say their situation is vastly different from octuplet mom? I would rather my tax dollars go to supporting babies than grown adults who made bad decisions in not completing their education or majoring in areas not in demand by the market.

My grandmother had 12 children. My grandfather died when the kids were teenagers. But the vast majority of them still got a college education. Several got MBA's and PhD's also. She did this with community support. Some of these children, my uncles, are now community leaders and leaders in their occupation. They now donate to charities themselves and support veterans associations, march of dimes, cancer associations, etc...They are productive and giving adults. But the children were not split up from their mother. Instead, the community kept them together but simply provided help.

So before you think to terminate parental rights (done in the most heinous of circumstances such as a drug addict parent, exteme neglect) or talk about splitting the family up, look inyour ownhouse and ask if you have ever received any help from the system or if there are people in your back yard whose families should also be split up.

I think you bring up some valid points- particularly that you need community support when raising kids. It does take a village. The octuplet situation is different than the Duggers (who I think is the family you mentioned w/ 18 kids) or your grandma's situation, or anyone who has brought a plethora of children into the world. Here's why-

1) She chose to bring many, many children into the world as a single parent (unlike your grandmother who became widowed); as we know it is much more advantageous to the child if they have a 2 parent household, emotionally and economically. Of course single parents can do it but this is not ideal and certainly difficult if you have several other kids to care for.

2) She has 14 kids under the age of 8. At least in the Dugger household and probably your grandmother's, the older children could help to look after the younger ones. As everyone knows, newborns require an incredible amount of care and to choose to care for 8 preemies on your own is ridiculous. Apparently she didn't even have the support of her parents going into it so it's not like she can say she had this tremendous support system.

3) Yes, I see your point about having to pay for unemployment for adults who might not have made the best career decisions but unemployment wages are generally temporary for any given individual. Nadya is going to require help from the government for at least the next 18 years for these kids.

4) Lastly, I think it's pretty ridiculous for people to be having this many babies at once anyway, even if you do have a 2 parent household and make a lot of money. I think the prevalence in quint, sex, sept, oct-uplets in recent years is outrageous. Not only was the body not designed to carry a litter of babies but emotionally, and mentally, we are not meant to have that many at once. And not to mention, the health hazards to the babies! I know people undergoing in-vitro increase their chances of a viable pregancy if they are injected with several fertilized embryos but come on, 5-8 at once?? It's just too much for the body. Wasn't there a mom of sextuplets recently who almost went into cardiac arrest on the delivery table? I mean come on, I know you want to have your own family but we are pushing ourselves to the utmost extremes here and bodies (and most bank accounts) were not meant to have 6,7,8 kids at a time.