Babies Galore

The media-dubbed 'Octomom' Nadya Suleman has been in the news for a while now and although I think Octomom is a suitable name I don't think it's appropriate in other regards when it comes to her. Mainly because she's the mother of 14 children (as opposed to 8 as 'octo' implies). But I think it's quite appropriate when it comes to describing how she's now suddenly reaching out and is willing to get assistance from anyone and everyone who is willing to put out for her and help given that she now has 14 children to care for and no job, no spouse and is a leading candidate for welfare support.

Now before people get in a huff about my statement I think it's cases like Suleman's that paint a bad image for welfare. Sure it is meant to help those who can't help themselves but in a case like Suleman's; I think it's like giving money to someone who is purposefully being irresponsible. Now some people end up in a situation where they have children and can't care for them the way they want to or should so assistance like welfare comes in handy in helping keep these families afloat. But when you know you don't have a job or anyone to help pay for your care (and when you already have six children) then how is it possible that one could even fathom wanting more children?

I understand that some people have a natural tendency to want to care for children and that they do what they can to keep themselves in these situations but isn't it highly responsible to want to take care of 14 lives when you can barely take care of your own? I compare Suleman's situation to what happened with the home loans crisis in this country. Sure it's good to give loans to people so that they can buy a home but giving $600,000 loans to people who earn less than $50,000 a year (combined) is not so smart. In this case I think it's wrong that fertility doctors worked with Suleman to implant 8 embroyos (all of which developed completely healthy).

I can understand some of Suleman's logic as well. She wanted children so she did what she could to get more kids. She also probably saw how there was an outpouring of support to families who had similar numbers of children. Families who ended up with their own reality series on cable or with homes completely furnished by generous donors. I guess she figured that by doing an unfathomable deed (having 8 children at once) and then showing the world that she already had 6 she would gain lots of sympathy. Instead she ended up with a lot of scorn.

People are understandably upset and bothered at the fact that despite proclaiming early on that she didn't want any support for her newly expanded family, Suleman is now talking about her readiness to accept any assistance as well as consider any offers of turning her lifestory into a movie or television series. I'm sure there's some skeezy producer out there who is willing to do just that. All I can think of is the line from the Simpsons where Reverend Lovejoy's wife continuously asks, "Won't someone please think of the children?" I wish someone would have thought of that initially because if they had realized that this woman already had 6 children she could barely care for, maybe the willingness to help her have 8 more wouldn't have been so enthusiastic.