Octuplets: Mother of All Issues
America’s latest responsibility riddle is defined by simple math and compounded by complex issues:
1 single mother
8 newborn octuplets
14 total offspring
15 minutes of fame
From miracle mom to mother of all outrage, Nadya Suleman’s spectacular fall from public grace continues in an avalanche of revelations: disability, inability, food stamps, no job, no spouse, and no viable plan for raising 14 children under the age of eight.
The responsibility dragnet snared her fertility specialist—at a clinic now under government scrutiny—and settled squarely on Ms. Suleman, who declared in a TV interview that she is a responsible parent, even though California taxpayers have been asked to pay the million dollar-plus hospital bill for her eight preemies.
“I personally do not believe I’m irresponsible,” Ms. Suleman said. “Everything I do revolves around my children.” Saying she was a single parent by choice, she questioned a perceived double standard between her unconventional lifestyle and that of couples who experience multiple births. “Why are they exempt from being called irresponsible?” she asked.
Selfish. Unstable. Irresponsible. The opinions continue to pour in by the thousands on talk shows and blogs, in headlines and on the street: Put her in therapy. Change the laws. Take her kids away. In a season of Wall Street bailouts, a Sesame Street bailout for the 14 kids of America’s mega-mom has not only angered many people, but, as one journalist put it, “exposes how publicly divided and personally judgmental we are” about the reproductive decisions of others and the question of how many children is too many.
“The ‘right’ number seems to lie somewhere between China and Nadya Suleman,” wrote another journalist. “But on what do we base that belief? The ability to pay for the children? The limits on the attention they will receive? How many is too many, and who gets to decide?”
Tell us what you think: Is there such a thing as too many children? Other families receive welfare, food stamps, and disability payments for their children; should Nadya Suleman be held to a different standard? Should Ms. Suleman’s reproduction—usually a private matter of personal responsibility—be the subject of such public debate?
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lol omfg
u are nuts!!! just like her
nicole pariseau!! | 5 months ago
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if you are on food stamps, 1 is too many!
The tax payers should get to decide since they are the ones that are picking up the bill of, yes; this irresponsible mother. If that is what you want to call her. No mother in her right mind decides to not only do it on her own with no father, but to see a fertility specialist to conceive multiple children. She has NO JOB, NO MONEY, NO HUSBAND, NO BANK ACCOUNT, NO RIGHT AT ALL!!!!!!! She should have her children taken away because obviously she was far too stupid before the fertility drugs made her look even more stupid in the eye of the public saying “this is by choice”. She is the idiot of all time. Needs mental help. And she needs to have a hysterectomy to prevent her stupid little mind from telling her stupid little legs to open.
Heather Lee Marsh | 5 months ago
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teens
do you realy have two kids at a teenage age if you do i am avloiud
rayquan gartley | 4 months, 2 weeks ago
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Wow..
Yes 14 children is way too many.. I do believe her actions are selfish.. but who are we to judge anyone..?? We have no idea what this woman is going through.. You cant judge someone if you haven’t been put in their situation.. and unless you are neglecting or abusing your children NO ONE deserves to have their children taken from them completely.. America talks about wanting to end war and wanting world peace.. but we cant even go a day without judging people.. i understand she is taking from our tax money..and she did make a lot of mistakes.. but what if you screwed up and ended up a single mother with 14 kids.. what would you do..?? Take a walk in her shoes..
Pheonix | 4 months, 2 weeks ago
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none
change is a acceptable way of life, life choices help us to change our own opinion and struggle with the opinion of others however; flexible, patients and tolerance will make change acceptable we all need to be more patient in the development stages of anyone’s life (the secret hurts).
tyra smith | 4 months ago
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MA4270
That’s what the 6 nannies are for, how else could she go on her shopping sprees (try that with 1 child let alone 14), get her nails done, go to dinner with her friend (I can’t believe she actually has one but even Charles Manson has groupies) and can you imagine having to get 14 kids ready to go get a cup of coffee? Why can’t she just make a cup at home like the rest of us that are trying to make ends meet, oh yeah, she gets government money AND money from selling her kids AND the website she had begging for money from the rest of us to help her because she had no job and 14 kids. I’d like to know why any money I make from a part time job is deducted from my unemployment check (so why bother working at all?) but she’s obviously not having that problem. I’m so sick of this woman saying how much she loves her kids. The poor older ones hardly get any attention unless they bite and hit each other, and from what I’ve seen she lets the nannies do the dirty work and she just plays with them in front of the cameras. Well, I guess I’ll stop ranting now but I do feel better getting that off my chest (I could go on about how irresponsible and selfish I think she is but I think that’s obvious from what I’ve already stated not to mention a few other peoples comments) and I do apologize for being so long winded.
MaryAnne Anderson | 4 months ago
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Babies are here,so let help them!! USA have other
I can not believe,how people are mean,bad!! All these negative comments!!!
Yes it is wrong,to get pregnant again without father and she had already so many children at home…these kids didn’t choose their mom!!!!
She did wrong thing to have so many kids…..she is NOT ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THEM…I do have twins…raising them by myself…it’s imposible…..but we everybody can help her.It’s a miracle to have 8 kids.GOD choosed her,to have so many kids.Maybe it’s a test on us???
We are helping everywhere in the world,why we can not help to our people….it want be that much from us!!!
Problem number 1 in the USA is:expensive day care,expensive kindergarden and expensive health insurance,expensive school,the goverment is not supporting families!!!!!
In Europe is normal,when mother give a birth to a child,she get around $1000 for
one baby,$2000 for twins.What she get in the USA? Diapers,cooling bag and syringe ball and coupons….After delivery ,she can stay 2 years at home and take good care of her child and if she was before delivery working,she get monthly paycheck 75% of her previous check,if she didn’t work,the goverment is helping her-they are not taking her child,they are helping her.In the USA is normal,that mothers are returning to the work one week after delivery!!! and grandmoms are watching a newborn babies.What is wrong with the goverment WAKE UP!!! Mother is the best for the children!!! Health insurance-in Europe is minimum people without a health insurance (only homeless,people on drugs and foreigners) EVERYBODY HAS AN INSURANCE.Here in the USA is minimum people who has an insurance. What is wrong with the goverment.And expensive school….in the USA it is normal to have a super dumm spoiled rich person in university and smart poor person in the factory…in Europe,if you are smart,you don’t have to pay anything to go to the university.LETS TALK ABOUT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS !!!!
I am not rich,BUT if I know her address ,I will send her every month something,clothes,food,…AND if I am her neighbour,I will help her with her kids…..because YOU NEVER KNOW ,WHEN YOU WILL NEED HELP FROM ALL OF US TOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DOES SOMEBODY KNOWS HER ADDRESS??
I WANT TO HELP HER???
DANA MOM OF TWINS
Dana Nelson | 4 months ago
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i wish the best 4 u.
hi my name is jayven im 14 years old and i seen u on the dr.phill show n i know it was hard 4 u 2 be on television n have all these negetive comments towards you n i know u dont no me n i dont no u bot like i said i truely do wish u the best with.all 14 of your kids xoxoxoxoxo bye
jayven | 3 months, 4 weeks ago
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mother of five
Ms. Suleman has a right to bear as many children as her body will allow. However with rights come responsibilities. She should consider the welfare of her children above her desire to experience the pleasure of child-bearing
and realize that it is irresponsible to choose to give birth to more children than she can personally provide for physically, financially, and emotionally. Others
have rights and responsiblilites as well and some people consider it an infringement on their rights to be made responsible for the support of her children.
Shirley P. Cornelious | 3 months, 3 weeks ago
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Get Over Yourselves.
Who do you people think you are to say that her children should be taken away from her? She may make mistakes and conciously continue to make more, but don’t we all. Live your own lives and stop worrying about other people. Taxes are taxes, these types of things will never change. No one is perfect. Shut up.
Bobbie | 3 months, 3 weeks ago
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