Some people talking about that whole octuplets thing without making me involuntarily grind my teeth.
All this shit about whether it is “ethical” for poor, single women to have litters of babies is a red herring. What’s really going on here is “Hey, let’s rip on this mentally ill woman because she has appropriated her personal uterus to flout social convention!”
Much of the criticism I’m reading, though, has less to do with the health risks and more to do with moral outrage over the financial aspect. How dare this woman, who appears to be unmarried and not wealthy, proceed with a reproductive process and end result she can’t pay for? The internet is initially aghast at the prospect of the state footing the bill for these children. THEN word emerges that Suleman has obtained a publicist and is in negotiations to give interviews, and suddenly the focus of the fury shifts. A “famewhore,” some call her.. But the Welfare Mom/Famewhore catch-22? I think we can ditch that little bit of nastiness.
I find the whole “it’s irresponsible to have kids when you can’t support them” argument tiresome and hypocritical. As a civilisation we are living beyond our means, how dare we point at a localised example and condemn it. The only thing that matters to me is whether she genuinely wanted the kids, and from where I stand, I have absolutely no way of determining that, so the point is moot.
The medical practitioners who endangered the babies’ lives by implanting so many embryos have some serious ethical questions to answer. There is plenty of evidence that more than 2 embryos implanted leads to poorer outcomes, to the point that in Australia they try to implant only one in many cases.
But to the moral loudmouths, I say let us look at all the baby making decisions you have made and pull them all apart and tell you why they were all wrong.
[...] by Louise Livesey * GUEST POST: WHEN THEY WERE CURVY* from Sociological Images by InfamousQBert * OK we’ll talk about it if we must from blue milk * Jessica and Kate from Shakesville by William K Wolfrum * On Feminism and Being [...]
The outrage over this woman and her family is driving me friggin’ bonkers. How dare she have so many children! But oh, how dare you hound her so about her choice to have so many children! But oh, how dare you defend her choice to submit to the patriarchical dictates!
Ugh, it’s all just so frustratingly predictable, so banal in its insight. Is anybody saying anything new here? Woman to blame for failing to escape an unescapable trap? How dare she.