No, I’m not talking about that old TV show, which by today’s standards seems idyllic.  I’m talking about this woman in California, who, apparently used fertility services to conceive and carry to birth EIGHT babies.  WOW.  That in and of itself would be newsworthy.

My personal belief is that society and government get too involved in what people do, but even I have limits.  From what I have read, we have a mother of six who decides she wants another child.  Call me crazy, but that seems to be scary itself, but add to that the fact that the mother lives with her mother and is unemployed you wonder.  Oh, but wait, she apparently uses some type of fertility services and ends up with OCTUPLETS.  That’s right EIGHT newborns. 

Who is going to support these children?  Clearly she is going to need a village to do it, both emotionally and financially.  I’m sure we’ll be helping (as taxpayers) to get all 14 children she is responsible for through school, etc.  Is that fair?  If I knowingly make a choice to have children what level of responsibility do I have to take in order to raise those children?  Can I impose my will to procreate on society in general?

The ethics and morality of medicine is an area I wish I had more time to ponder and comment on.

My final thought: We require people to have driver’s licenses to drive on our roads, is it time to have “birth licenses” and validate that you are capable and equipped to bring another life into this world?

Birth of octuplets rattles fertility experts - Los Angeles Times