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Pat,

I was actually astonished to learn that a doctor could be expelled from his or her primary professional organization and that it would virtually have no effect.

It felt quite appropriate that they expelled him, since the violation of standards was obviously violated so badly. But I actually had this thought: That women who are desperate to be pregnant may actually now SEEK this doctor out just BECAUSE he will implant more embryos at once, giving them a greater chance of pregnancy. Infertility treatments are such a rollercoaster of emotions and are so expensive that it wouldn't surprise me if this happens. Not because moms want 8 or 14 kids, but because they want one, or two, and would be perfectly happy if they were blessed with more at the same time.

I don't think you can enforce limits, however. I think you have to rely on the profession to set its own standards and police itself. In the same way that cosmetic surgeons must. There will always be surgeons who will participate when someone wants 5, 10, or 15 cosmetic surgeries in pursuit of "perfection," but the vast majority of them won't indulge such a patient. Same with fertility doctors -- during the peak of the stories about the octuplets and their mom, every fertility specialist who was interviewed or quoted was aghast that the whole thing had ever happened, and wanted to distance themselves as far as possible from Dr. Kamrava.

Thought-provoking topic for sure. I'll love reading what others have to say.

I think there is no doubt that not only have glorified multiple births given a completely false sense of reality as to what parenting is actually all about - we are paying cold hard cash to those who insist that having 6 or 8 children all at once is a "miracle", when in fact it's science - and egos - run amok.

I told my husband the other day that some woman somewhere right now, is crossing her fingers for 9 babies all at once so she has her moment in the spotlight.

Thankfully, in the whole scheme of things, these kinds of multiple births are rare.

I do think the doctor should have been expelled but it wasn't just too little. It was too little too late. Let's not forget that many of these doctors have that god-complex that make them feel powerful and the creators of new science. These doctors (and their egos) need to be taken down a notch or two. Any woman can come in and ask for any thing. We assume that medical professionals have the sense, the courage, and the lack of ego to say no. But that obviously wasn't the case here, with Octomom.

I'm not sure how an industry standard can be set (or enforced) because there will always be the argument of choice and freewill. And standards can be set all day long - it's the enforcing that's the problem. As Diane said, we almost have to just cross our fingers and hope that these doctors have the common sense to walk away. Most will. Most doctors are smart and compassionate people. But they are neither perfect, nor infallible. Rogue doctors will go against common sense and they are going to have to be held accountable.

I don't see these multiple births (5, 6, 7, 8 kids) ending because the rewards, freebies and fame are too important to some of the parents and doctors involved.

I'm all for having kids. It's a choice people should be allowed to make and it's nobody's business who has how many kids as long as the children are loved and well cared for. That is, until we, as tax payers, end up paying for it all. Then it starts being our business.