Octuplets Born In California (And Baby #8 Was A Surprise!)

BELLFLOWER, Calif. — A woman gave birth to eight babies in Southern California on Monday, the world's second live-born set of octuplets.

The mother, who was not identified, gave birth to six boys and two girls weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces, doctors at Kaiser Permanante Bellflower Medical Center told The Associated Press.

The hospital had scheduled a Caesarean section for seven babies, but doctors were surprised by the eighth.

"My eyes were wide," Dr. Karen Maples said, explaining her reaction to the last birth.

Doctors said the babies were born nine weeks premature but are in stable condition. Two newborns were placed on ventilators and a third needs oxygen.

Forty-six hospital staff and four delivery rooms were used for the births. After a baby was born, staff rushed the newborn into another room and waited for the next, the hospital said. But despite weeks of preparation, doctors did not expect the eighth child.

"It is quite easy to miss a baby when you're anticipating seven babies," said Dr. Harold Henry, chief of maternal and fetal medicine at the hospital. "Ultrasound doesn't show you everything."

Kaiser spokeswoman Myra Suarez said she could not release any information about the mother, including her condition or whether she used fertility drugs. Such drugs make multiple births more likely.

Story continues below

advertisement

"They are all doing the best they can," Suarez told the AP.

The first baby was born at 10:43 a.m.; the eighth one at 10:48 a.m.

"They were all screaming and kicking around very vigorously," Henry told KCAL9.

The first live-born octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, and one baby died about a week later. The surviving siblings _ girls Ebuka, Gorom, Chidi, Chima and Echerem, and their brothers Ikem and Jioke _ celebrated their 10th birthday in December.

Their parents, Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi, said they are astonished and grateful that their children have grown up to be healthy and active kids who are now in the fourth grade.

Chukwu told the AP that the parents of the newest octuplets have much to look forward to.

"Just enjoy it. It's a blessing, truly a blessing," Chukwu said. "We'll keep praying for them."

The Bellflower medical center is about 17 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

___

Associated Press writers Denise Petski and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS full name of hospital.)

Comments

[tatianalensky]

I reckon this quack-a-jerk took the Hippocratic Oath and ran with it - in the opposite direction.

It always takes two obsessive compulsive morally challenged idiots to achieve results such as this.

[wilray]

With so many American not having health insurance. How is it that this unwed mother of six who is on assistance and living with her mother afford fertility treatment, and what doctor would think it was a good idea to do this. Was this done pro bono? Something doesn't add up. The doctors license should be lifted for irresponsibility.

Niobe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobe

[Clem2]

Just read where medical care is costing $300,000/day. Now isn't that nice? What a totally irresponsible act.

As far as I'm concerned they should outlaw fertility clinics.

At a time when the planet needs fewer, not more, people.... this unwed, unemployed mother who has gone on relief and declared bankruptcy in the past has 14 kids? The mind boggles.

[Bingolong]

She likes her M'bros shaken not stirred so

let me be the first to say..

Octopussy !

Thank you , thank you very much

[wilray]

This is stupid on so many levels, I don't know where to begin. So I won't.

[InfoIs]

If you are concerned about the Octuplets
just say out loud now Jesus I believe
and I receive you in my heart please
help them for more help please go to
leroyjenkins.com and infois.blogspot.com

[1955Cruse]

In today's paper, there was a big story about the new Mom is trying to get a 2.5 MILLION Dollar T.V. deal to have a Show citing her as a "Childcare Expert" (???????)

Doubt the 14 kids' Grandmother would call their mom an "Expert" - She's an Unwed Mother, living off her parents, who filed for Bankruptcy 18 months ago and now, Grandma said she's "HAD IT" with her daughter, who is totally:

"Obsessed With Having Children"

Grandma also said her daughter is a "Profession Student" for the past 7 years and that's she's getting her education off multiple educational grants. Grandma also said, "She's going to be GONE when her daughter brings home yet another 8 kids for Grandma to raise."

Also, since Mom is a "Professional Student" - Unwed and Unemployed, it's quite apparant that Kaiser Permanente was chosen for its outstanding Neo-Natal Facilities, not because the mother was covered by any kind of Insurance.

[unite4change]

Her mother said:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/31/nadya-suleman-octuplets-m_n_162756.html

[ChaiKat]

So it turns out this woman already has 6 kids, two of which are twins. She also lives with her parents. I wonder, why she felt the need for more children if she already has six, is living with her parents and there is no indication she even has a husband or a job.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/ap_on_he_me/calif_octuplets;_ylt=AsccS0N8src11KNPVpJ0QwxI2ocA

[MagisterLudi]

YOu can discuss this subject on personal levele, state level or national level or global level.
Many comments on this thread argue AT each other on different levels.
Personal:One cannot deny that women ( maybe) is experiencing the joy of motherhood.
The children may or may not fulfill their potential. We don't know. Although low socio-economic status is often a predictor of academic failure in United States.
State level: Social welfare departments are not amused.
National level: American population growth are pretty healthy. Neither dangerously low as in Russia and Austria nor as dangerously high as in G.aza and India.
Global: Human population growth rate is unsustainable. This is dangerous to the survival of the human species. If it breaks the equilibrium, nature will find the way to thin out the ranks. And it'll not be pretty. 14th century Black Pl.a.gue anyone?

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

I really appreciate your well thoughtout comments. Most of the things I've read on this subject are uninformed conjecture.

[FirstForty]

Id me heading for Bolivia in disguise.

[MagisterLudi]

Hasta La Vista, baby.
Care to take a few people along?

[milo h minderbinder]

For all those horrified at the idea of overpopulation and blaming it on those taking advantage of fertility treatments, I have a challenge.

What is the average number of kids in the USA...and what is the average number of kids born to parents who use fertility treatments?

I'd love to see the comparison. And I strongly suspect that second number is lower. But feel free to prove my hunch wrong.

[RTIII]

Your challenge proves your lack of scientific - and societal - awareness and, unfortunately, also illustrates your willful blindness.

Even if you stated your challenge better, you completely miss the point: EVERY additional human, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN THE USA, _harm_the_planet._ What about overpopulation can be so challenging? "Americans" consume VASTLY more resources (mostly not in North America) than the average human. WE are the worst of the evil scourge that is humanity - evil from the point of view of all remaining life on the planet, and from the point of view of our unborn progeny. Sure, China's population might equal ours in destructive power, but not on a per-person basis - we are a rounding-error for their census. Still, does the fact that we still have some room mean we are not guilty of the worst abuses of our Earth?

Get a grip on YOUR OWN IMPACT. Get a handle on what ONE MORE HUMAN here means. Hint: It's NOT a joy to our Earth nor ANY of the living organisms that _new_ human will force they share it with. ...The _source_ of the New Human is irrelevant. ... This is why doing anything _more_ than simply replacing yourself is unethical, immoral, and selfish. And, of course, an argument can be made that even replacement is too much, given our lifespans today.

P.S. Those with children - ANY children - need to teach their children REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE as a way of life, and practice it to the utmost.

[RTIII]

Your challenge proves your lack of scientific - and societal - awareness and, unfortunately, also illustrates your willful blindness.

Even if you stated your challenge better, you completely miss the point: EVERY additional human, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN THE USA, _harm_the_planet._ What about overpopulation can be so challenging? "Americans" consume VASTLY more resources (mostly not in North America) than the average human. WE are the worst of the ev il scourge that is humanity - ev il from the point of view of all remaining life on the planet, and from the point of view of our unborn progeny. Sure, China's population might equal ours in destructive power, but not on a per-person basis - we are a rounding-error for their census. Still, does the fact that we still have some room mean we are not guilty of the worst abuses of our Earth?

Get a grip on YOUR OWN IMPACT. Get a handle on what ONE MORE HUMAN here means. Hint: It's NOT a joy to our Earth nor ANY of the living organisms that _new_ human will force they share it with. ...The _source_ of the New Human is irrelevant. ... This is why doing anything _more_ than simply replacing yourself is unethical, immoral, and selfish. And, of course, an argument can be made that even replacement is too much, given our lifespans.

P.S. Those with children - ANY children - need to teach their children REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE as a way of life, and practice to the utmost.

[HyperInfluential]

Now hold on just a minute. I'm all for reducing the population on Earth to sustainable levels, but it's wrong to say that there is no value in new humans. Each human has a unique viewpoint on the world that can be expressed in art and song, and no other creatures do that. A world without humans entirely would be a world without stories, and that wouldn't be good at all.

Zero Population Growth is a good way to get a handle on things for now, but it's clear that humans love to have babies, and why shouldn't they? It's programmed in their DNA. Instead of trying to fight that, get behind NASA and get serious about colonizing space! The one thing the universe is NOT short on is room. It's also got lots of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, the basic building blocks of life, floating around in asteroid belts and comets.

The only reason we haven't made a real start on finding more room for our people is because our past few leaders have been convinced Jesus would come back before that was necessary. Hopefully once our new president finishes restoring science to its proper place, we can begin.

[MarkInEugene]

You totally missed the point.

[RTIII]

This is NOT a blessing.

There are enough humans on earth already, right now. To do more than replace yourself is irresponsible to those already alive, irresponsible to the eco-system we all share that is being asked to keep all of us alive, and irresponsible to all that may follow in successive generations.

Isn't maximizing humanity through time, where in countless billions of us can enjoy full lives with a wonderful world of adequate resources better than a giant bubble, consuming all imaginable resources and more, raping the planet of many other species, only to burst and leave a great extinction?

The selfishness of some is beyond belief. Or is it, the unwillingness to see ones true impact.
.

[milo h minderbinder]

I'm sure these people didn't choose to intentionally have eight kids. They were likely just using fertility meds to try and have one, and they ended up with the rare exception.

Sure, overpopulation is bad, but when a situation like this happens by accident it's ignorant to make accusations of "selfishness".

[RTIII]

I confess; I didn't read the article. Perhaps the _couple_ were ignorant, but I doubt it.

This was a financial call for them. A single embryo can be implanted at one time. Doing multiples increases the odds that any single procedure will work at the risk of what happened here (apparently). Surely the Dr.s know this and if the parents didn't, they're idiots. The Dr.s could implant two or three at a time, at most, to ensure this sort of thing doesn't happen, but that costs the Dr & / or client should any given procedure not take hold.

In any event, it's _not_ a joyous occasion of all the rest of us - including all those kids who need adoption... ...At the very least, the Dr(s) were irresponsible.
.

[skippyB]

She's single and lives with her parents. Who are "these people"? This whole thing is a disaster. Imagine the cost of the neonatal care. 14 kids. Lovely.

[baddadd47]

I find the liberal hypocrisy laughable, you libs are laways railing against staying out of the bedroom and being pro-choice, I gues that only counts when your at planned parenthood waiting for the doc with a coat hanger.

[milo h minderbinder]

I have to admit, as a liberal myself I have been ashamed at some of the comments that have been made about this story. I DO consider myself pro choice. And that includes the choice to NOT have an abortion.

There's a difference between favoring personal freedoms and pressuring people to have abortions they don't want.

[unite4change]

Baddadd47, no the problem with the GOP is they want people to feel and live the way they do. If you choose to have or not to have an abortion, the decision should be yours. I personally would not have an abortion but that's what I choose to do; however for the woman who decides to have an abortion it's what she chooses to do. Either way, it's no else's business. The GOP must stop trying to tell people how to live their lives.

[mirandawilde]

I loathe the fact that these stories are reported as though it is a good thing that women are irresponsibly taking fertility drugs and having too many babies.
The planet is already well over-populated with humans.
There are many, many babies who need homes who could be adopted- and I'm sure that adopting one from anywhere on the planet would cost less than fertility treatments, or say, the cost of giving birth to and raising 8 babies.
It is likely these babies will have special health needs that other people will end up paying for because of the way insurance works.
And where do you think those fertility drugs end up??? When a woman taking them urinates, those hormones end up in our water supply- and there is no way to filter it out. I have no doubt that the reason why male fertility rates have decreased 50 percent in the past 50 years and children are hitting puberty at younger and younger ages is because of women using birth control pills- and these fertility drugs must certainly be adding to that mess.
We are destroying ourselves and our planet with this irresponsibility- 8 babies born to one mother is not a happy story; it's depressing.

[milo h minderbinder]

We don't know that this woman was taking fertility drugs (though it seems likely), much less "irresponsibly". Even when fertility meds are used properly, a result like this is incredibly rare but still possible.

[skippyB]

This woman already has six kids.

[RTIII]

Right On Miranda.

(See my post nearly adjacent to yours in time.)
.

[MarkInEugene]

Thank you for your understanding!

[nyerindc]

Excellent comment Miranda. It is frightening to think about how much of these hormones end up in our water supply.

[skippyB]

Excellent point about the hormones in the water supply.

[lynninny]

Seriously? Have you read studies that show that fertility drugs are excreted through women's urine and contaminate our water supply? And that birth control pills are somehow lowering men's fertility rates?

Having gone through infertility myself (which is a condition that arose from appendicitis, through no fault of my own), I can see from the point of view of people who can only have children with medical assistance. Who are you to tell them that they don't deserve to do so? I can also tell you that it is not necessarily less expensive to adopt -- do you have any figures for how much it costs to adopt a child?

You sound so judgmental. Are you ready to condemn overweight people for eating more of their share of food and burdening society with their inevitable health issues? Or castigate people taking anti-depressants, because their drugs no doubt get excreted somehow into the water supply?

You don't know anything about these people. Maybe it was a natural event. Maybe they are rich, and can support their children easily. Maybe they are saints, and will bring up 8 human beings who will alter the planet for the better, discover a cure for cancer, or find a way to remove hormones from our water supply....

[scuzzletop]

Throughout the comments posted on this article there are continual references to love. Many of those supporting multiple births defend this couple, and birth in general, as an act of love, but what they fail to realize is the "presence of love" argument is a fallacy. Does anyone really believe only parents are capable of love, or that love can only exist through reproduction? No, of course not. Who hasn't felt love for a parent, brother, sister or friend? No one is suggesting people should stop loving or that love is but a selfish emotion. Those opposed to multiple births, don't do it out of hatred, they do it out of love as well. Their reasoning is there are plenty of people already here who need it. Love is not the argument.

The argument here is sacrifice. This is what makes this issue such a heated topic. Should people sacrifice the opportunity at having their own children? The idea is appalling to some, but can anyone deny that sacrifices will have to be made at some point? The earth simply cannot sustain the current population. The technology is not there. If we continue growing, how will these people eat? A sacrifice will have to be made, be it now or later.

So who makes the sacrifice? Perhaps this is too difficult a question. After all, who could answer the call Abraham received? Keep in mind though, by not answering that call today, we are essentially answering it tomorrow.

[the-lexicon]

drivel

[milo h minderbinder]

If overpopulation continues to be a problem, sacrifices probably will need to be made.

I just don't get why sacrifices should only be made by those with fertility issues, particularly when there are so many fertile people having way too many kids naturally.

The vast majority of people with fertility problems are lucky to even have one kid, and I suspect most end up having one or two by the time they are done with the treatments.

This case is the one in a million exception - the vast majority of births from fertility treatments are still singletons, and the vast majority of multiples are twins.

[RTIII]

"I just don't get why sacrifices should only be made by those with fertility issues, particularly when there are so many fertile people having way too many kids naturally."

It's called "natural selection." If you don't like it, see Darwin and complain.

What _I_ don't get is all the idiots who use fertility enhancements and end up with multiples who _then_ exclaim, "oh, what joy, it was the will of God!" These people are unclear on the concept of the will of God, for one thing, and selfishly not considering the impact of their acts as a second thing.
.

[RTIII]

Also, what's this "if overpopulation continues to be a problem" malarkey? Overpopulation has been a problem for well over half a century. Where the He// have YOU been? Just because Every Last Single Square Inch hasn't been paved over doesn't mean we're not PAINFULLY experiencing overpopulation. Try Global Climate Change on for size; overpopulation BY HUMANS is threatening the entire biosphere of this planet.

You _claim_ to be a liberal, well try some intelligence and thought with that liberalism - you could use it (along with a few tens of millions of others). YOUR choices, ALL OUR CHOICES have broad and permanent impacts. EVERY choice has an impact. Most people choose to ignore the negative ones. Don't let that be YOU. Life on this planet can't afford continued willful-ignorance.
.

[nyerindc]

I agree, milo, there are way too many fertile people having kids, and that does tower in comparison to whats being produced by artificial fertility.

But to glorify the birth of octuplets is not the right way to go. Most of the overpopulation problems occur in the 3rd world, where you also have a very infant mortality due to problems like poverty, malnutrition, infectious disease, lack of basic medical care, immunizations, etc. We will likely never be able to solve those problems. But we can and we should put the brakes on unbridled reproductive technologies, which is available in wealthy countries like the US.

We allow access to this technology, because there is a buck to be made, and because we live in a consumer-driven culture where we are used to having whatever we want as long as we can pay for it, without thinking about the long-term implications of what we do - sound familiar? we do the same thing with driving SUVs and eating lots of steak.

[MarkInEugene]

Its encouraging to hear other coming to the same realization that we live in a finite space and we have to do a much better job at taking care of this space. It's tragic that so many don't get it.

Thank you for your awareness!