posted on June 12, 2007 11:20:49 AM
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- Two sets of sextuplets were born in different states less than a day apart, a rare occurrence but one that fertility experts say could become increasingly common as more couples seek artificial methods of conceiving babies.
Brianna Morrison, 24, who used fertility drugs, gave birth just before midnight Sunday in Minneapolis, Minnesota. About 10 hours later, Jenny Masche, 32, who used artificial insemination, gave birth Monday in Phoenix by Caesarean section, the first successful sextuplet delivery in Arizona.
Talk about an instant family. It is a good thing these parents are young---they are going to need all the energy they can muster up. Better them than me!
posted on June 12, 2007 12:58:11 PM
I can't even imagine what that would be like. lol
This is happening more and more frequently....but there are many other couples who choose to 'reduce' [abort] the fetus'....so they limit the number the woman will carry.
These high risk pregnancies are VERY expensive....even when things go as well as they can.
posted on June 12, 2007 01:30:06 PM
I understand that at least 1 of these mothers has been in the hospital for months. Yikes. That must have cost a fortune. Also, I just heard on MSNBC that the woman named Masche is now in intensive care due to heart failure caused by the pregnancy/delivery. They expect her to be ok, but geez, she could have died.
posted on June 17, 2007 03:08:14 PM
"Reduction" in the number of fetuses is due to the fact that the human body is not 'built' to carry more than a single birth.
Reduction is for the well being of the mother as well as for the fetuses.
case in point:
Third Sextuplet Baby in Minnesota Dies
AP
MINNEAPOLIS (June 17) - Hospital officials say three of the sextuplets born prematurely to a Minnesota couple have now died. The other three remain in critical condition.
A third boy, Lincoln Sean Morrison, died Friday. Two of his brothers, Tryg and Bennet, died earlier in the week.
The four boys and two girls were born last Sunday about four and a-half months early at a Minneapolis hospital. Doctors had advised the couple to selectively reduce the number of viable fetuses to two, but they declined.
Parents Ryan and Brianna Morrison released a statement saying it's been "a difficult week" for them. They thanked everyone for their prayers and support.
Hospital officials say no further information will be released.
posted on June 17, 2007 06:28:57 PM
I happen to agree-people should be made to take an I.Q. test before being allowed to breed.
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If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
posted on June 17, 2007 07:33:45 PM
""Reduction" in the number of fetuses is due to the fact that the human body is not 'built' to carry more than a single birth."
Can't quite agree with 'not built to carry more than ONE single birth'. Because twins are quite 'natural' in human births as are, to a lesser degree, triplets.
But it does kind of make one ponder the ethics of those doctors who don't see a problem with impregnating these women with so many embryos at one time especially when the risk to the woman's life and to the babies are so great.
Ethics....play such an important part in all these areas. Just as they do in abortions...or anything related to abortions.
posted on June 17, 2007 09:37:10 PM
Somehow those multiple births seem more like "litters" to me. Not fair to the babies, many of whom die. And the rest of the babies--if you've seen TV shows about those families, you always see at least one of the multiples with major problems--profound hearing loss, very bad eyesight, mental retardation. What are these people thinking!
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There is more to life than increasing its speed. --Mahatma Gandhi
posted on June 17, 2007 09:40:51 PM
Well, Roadsmith, you used the word that pops immediately into my mind when hearing about these births...."litters" ...and aren't those what animals have?
posted on June 18, 2007 04:32:24 AM
"What are these people thinking!"
How much they love, want and value children, as opposed to those who value them so little they murder them, support them being murdered all the time via abortions. They show they can even love them though some may be handicapped to varying degrees.
I'd rather live in a world full of them than people who have no value for human life because it may be 'different' or less than perfect.
posted on June 18, 2007 05:59:28 AM
IMHO, the Minnesota couple is a prime example of selfish inhumanity.
In their early twenties, this couple had tried to get pregnant naturally for about a year before seeking medical intervention.
With a history of miscarriages, she had not right to think she could carry six fetuses to a healthy term.
That is NOT valuing human life.
With regard to the natural ability to carry more than one fetus ~ check your medical sites.
Yes, the human CAN carry twins or even triplets to a healthy outcome, however, biologically we are not meant to. Anything over two fetuses is considered a 'high risk pregnancy' ~ high risk for the babies as well as the mother.
Nature does not require bed rest or hospitalization for pregnancy. Advances in medicine and science tell women that a baby that probably shouldn't be born still can be if you interfere with letting nature take its course.
posted on June 18, 2007 08:17:58 AMWhat are these people thinking!
It just goes to show how desperate these people are. Instead of adopting a child that currently does not have a home or parents to raise them, these parents would rather subject themselves to tests and treatments in hopes to have a baby. Well in some cases they get more than these wished for. I wonder if these couples thought about the fact they may end up with more than one child. How many of these couples can handle the responsibilities of raising 4, 5 or 6 babies at one time?
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on June 18, 2007 08:26:15 AM
ASSORTED FACTS
35% of twins are left-handed, twice the rate of non-twins.
Identical twins do not have the same fingerprints.
Over 50% of twins are born before 37 weeks.
Children of identical twins are genetically half siblings.
If identical twins marry identical twins, their children will legally be cousins, but genetically will be full siblings.
Parents of twins are more likely to get divorced than parents of singletons.
If one half of a set of twins gets divorced, the other twin is more likely to get divorced.
The divorce rate is higher among (adult) twins and multiples than among singletons.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on June 18, 2007 09:37:36 AM
..."if you interfere with letting nature take its course."
Yea, the same thing as ending those pregnancies...that nature would have allowed to continue had the mothers 'allowed nature to take its course'.
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Not all want to adopt....they want their OWN, biological child. Nice we live in America where THEY get to choose and don't have some progressive telling them they can't. They can adopt IF THEY want to...if not....these other choices are there for THEM to make.
posted on June 19, 2007 07:24:55 AMNice we live in America where THEY get to choose and don't have some progressive telling them they can't.
I am glad you see it that way. It is nice to live in a country were two people who love each other should be able to do what they want regardless of their sex. A couple of the same sex should be able to get married without having some religious conservatives tell them they can not.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on June 19, 2007 08:21:04 AM
As I have said before....all the states that have been passing laws BANNING gay marriage are NOT all religious nor all conservatives.
A FACT you refuse to acknowledge.
In ingornace you can blame whomever you want to...but the facts ARE out there for all who want the truth of just how many Americans refuse to accept gay marriage.
posted on June 19, 2007 02:12:13 PMbut the facts ARE out there for all who want the truth of just how many Americans refuse to accept gay marriage.
The facts are you are homophobic and a bigot.
The facts are laws banning gay marriage are done out of ignorance and fear.
The facts are people like yourself have not proven why gay marriage should be banned. You have not shown how gay marriage can be harmful to society.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on June 20, 2007 09:51:44 AM
One of the biggest problems arising when megamultiples — more than three babies born all at one time — arrive is the gushing media coverage of the births. First, there's the dash to get a camera into the nursery for baby pictures. Exhausted moms are interviewed right after birth, dazed but thrilled about their little miracles. Dads are shown looking exhausted and overwhelmed as they meet their basketball or hockey team to be.
Why quintuplets, sextuplets and septuplets happen and what the real price is in the long run for megamultiple births are subjects that, while crucial for understanding the reproductive revolution and its benefits and costs, remain almost unexamined in newspaper, television and magazine accounts. And that is unfortunate, because these costs aren’t limited to just health and financial challenges faced by the family welcoming the new additions, but to society as well.
Earlier this month, two sets of sextuplets were born after their parents used assisted reproductive technologies, and their births generated a lot of media attention. Brianna and Ryan Morrison had four boys and two girls at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis on June 10. Ten hours later, Bryan and Jenny Masche welcomed three boys and three girls at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix.
The “TODAY” show spent a considerable time cooing about the births of two sets of sextuplets in such a short period of time. The show jumped right into the lives of the Phoenix family. Thirty seconds did not elapse during story promos or actual coverage without the word “miracle” being invoked. The NBC program was hardly alone in going weak-kneed over the births of so many of babies.
CNN chimed in with “good news” reports on its “American Morning” program. The newscaster noted gleefully how “tiny” the babies were.
TV coverage in Phoenix described the births as “gifts” and “bundles of joy,” among other gushing terms. Stations pitched in to help the family raise money and collect baby diapers and clothes. The Minnesota media did not miss a chance to refer to their local sextuplets as “blessings.”
The Boston Globe, Newark Star Ledger and many other papers ran short stories that heavily emphasized the good news about the sextuplet births and noting how pleased and happy the parents were.
Going gaga
There is plenty to celebrate when babies are born. I am not arguing that joy and delight have no place in media coverage of these events. But the media owe us more than just cheering, gushing and cooing when reproductive technologies create babies in numbers that do not occur naturally and, more seriously, that carry tremendous risks.
In the case of the Masches, the mother went into life-threatening heart failure right after the births. Too much blood was in her body from supporting all the fetuses and she nearly died. News reports noted this problem but passed over it to get back to the positive side of megamultiples. The Minnesota babies were born extremely premature at 22 weeks. Sadly, three have already died.
But the downside of megamultiples, in terms of risk to the fetuses or the moms, got little media play in the initial stories about the two sets of sextuplets.
When megamultiple pregnancies occur due to fertility treatments, it spells potential trouble for both the mother and the fetuses. Gestational diabetes, strokes and preeclampsia — a potentially lethal form of hard-to-control high blood pressure — are huge risks for moms having more than twins. And moms expecting triplets or more are almost guaranteed to have Caesarean sections.
The babies themselves are put at grave risk when there are more than two. Having megamultiples means the babies face less room to grow in the womb, prematurity and low birth weights. All of these translate into high risk for mental retardation, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy and vision and hearing loss for the babies. They are also 20 times more likely to die in the first month of their lives than singletons.
Infants born in big numbers also need to spend a lot of time in neonatal intensive care units to allow vital organs to develop, which means they require expensive, high quality medical care. Those costs are almost always borne by either insurance plans or state Medicaid funds, meaning you and I pay their bills. And obviously, if there are complications that affect the children as they grow, helping the kids — and the parents — with their health problems through special education, multiple surgeries and rehabilitative care can run into the millions of dollars.
No accident
Multiple births are not, as the media coverage would have you believe, unadulterated, wondrous miracles with no downside, nor are they generally the result of accidents, divine will or luck.
Fertility clinics sometimes transplant more than three embryos at a time into women, knowing that megamultiples could result. But a clinic can look good in comparison to its competitors by saying it can succeed in delivering babies to infertile couples. So some, incredibly, continue the practice, understanding it may be at the cost of the mom and babies’ health.
Some infertility programs also give women drugs to make them ovulate more, but then don’t monitor the patients carefully to ensure that the couple doesn’t have unprotected sex if the drugs are a little too successful and produce too many eggs.
And some clinics do not explain clearly what the real dangers are of having megamultiples. Nor do they fully encourage the option of eliminating one or more of the fetuses in utero — a procedure called selective reduction — to preserve the health of the more viable babies if there are complications or problems in the pregnancy.
Megamultiple births are not the miracles the media makes them out to be. In fact it could be argued that we should be doing more as a matter of public policy to discourage megamultiple births by getting infertility programs to do more to minimize the risk of creating them. But, given the kind of “check your critical senses at the door” media coverage that always seem to accompany these births, these are not ideas you are likely to be asked to consider in thinking about the realities about megamultiple births.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
