parents

I wish I looked this chilled after giving birth to ONE baby let alone 8.

UPDATE: I've been reading that the expected sponsorship deals that
most mothers with multiples get – free nappies, formula, nursery
furniture etc – are not materialising for Angelina's sister Nadya Suleman and her babies. While
some people may take the 'sucked in, serves you right' attitude, I
don't. I wish nothing but happiness and a smooth path for this family,
the mother included.  And that's going to be an inordinately tough thing to pull off.

Whatever I think about her screwed up motivations and the ethics of
the doctors who performed the fertility treatment which resulted in the
octuplets (NOT the same medical team who delivered the babies by the
way so yes of COURSE that team are going to look happy – the miracle of
delivering 8 healthy babies can only be something to be celebrated), nobody wants these babies or her other children to suffer. Certainly not more than they will from having to share their mother with 13 needy siblings….

I hope she is showered with free stuff because anything that will help these children to be happy and well cared for and not slip into poverty is a good, good thing.

——————————————————————————————————————-

This is Nadya Suleman who is probably wishing she could stay a little longer with the interviewer. Instead of going home to deal with her 14 CHILDREN UNDER 7 YEARS OLD including octuplets born last week.

She has given an interview to US network NBC and they've released some excerpts….let's follow this story, shall we?

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Nadya Suleman, 33, who now has 14 children, told NBC News in an
interview to be broadcast in the US on Friday that being an only
child had left her yearning for human and family connections she
felt had been lacking while growing up.

"That was always a dream of mine, to have a large family, a huge
family, and — I just longed for certain connections and
attachments with another person that I — I really lacked, I
believe, growing up," Suleman said in excerpts from the interview
released by NBC.

The Medical Board of California confirmed yesterday it had begun
an investigation into the births "to see if we can substantiate a
violation of the standard of care".

Suleman's case has angered fertility experts after it emerged
she had eight of her own previously frozen embryos implanted.

Under guidelines issued by the American Society of Reproductive
Medicine (ASRM), a woman Suleman's age should have no more than two
embryos implanted.

Harish Sehdev, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology
at Pennsylvania Hospital, has called the decision to implant eight
embryos in a woman who already has six children "insensitive and
ignorant."

Multiple-birth babies are often born prematurely — Suleman's
octuplets were born nine-and-a-half weeks early — which puts them
at significantly greater risk of long-term health problems, Sehdev
said.

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Suleman told NBC her childhood left her feeling a lack of "self
and identity."

"I didn't feel as though, when I was a child, I had much control
of my environment. I felt powerless. And that gave me a sense of
predictability," she said.

"Reflecting back on my childhood, I know it wasn't functional.
It was pretty — pretty dysfunctional, and whose isn't?"

She said she had tried to get pregnant unsuccessfully for
several years before turning to in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Suleman, who was discharged from the Bellflower Medical Centre
on Thursday, said after the first IVF procedure was successful she
"just kept going in."

Suleman, who is not married, has been living with her mother,
who has expressed exasperation at what she called her daughter's
obsession with children. All 14 children are the product of a sperm
donor.

Joann Killeen, a publicist hired by Suleman, said Suleman was
"looking forward to being the best mom that she can possibly
be."

"She's smart, she's bright, she's articulate, she's
well-educated, and she has a wonderful sense of humour," Killeen
told ABC's Good Morning America.

Hospital officials said Suleman's eight babies were doing well
and were breathing naturally.

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The babies, delivered on January 26 by Caesarian section, are
now the longest surviving octuplets in the world.

"The babies will be going home one at a time as each reaches
near-normal newborn weight," said Mandhir Gupta, neonatalogist at
the hospital.

"At this point in their development, they are not mature enough
to coordinate the suckling and swallowing at the same time to be
bottle fed, but they are all getting the love and care they need
and are doing well."

It's great news that the babies are doing well. A miracle indeed. But perhaps she should have dealt with her loneliness with, oh, I don't know…..THERAPY? BUYING A PUPPY?

UPDATE: I've been reading that the expected sponsorship deals that most mothers with multiples get – free nappies, formula, nursery furniture etc – are not materialising for Nadya and her babies. While some people may take the 'sucked in, serves you right' attitude, I don't. I wish nothing but happiness and a smooth path for this family, the mother included.

Whatever I think about her screwed up motivations and the ethics of the doctors who performed the fertility treatment which resulted in the octuplets (NOT the same medical team who delivered the babies by the way so yes of COURSE that team are going to look happy – the miracle of delivering 8 healthy babies can only be something to be celebrated)