Jan

31

Let’s Not Get Too Excited About The Idea of Octuplets

Filed Under Demography, Family Issues, Media Praises and Critiques, Original Essays and Analysis, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Sexuality and Heterosexism, Sociology, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Everyone is talking about the California woman who gave birth to octuplets. Yes, my friends, that’s 8 babies, and it looks like they will all survive. While the news media is gushing, my own response is a little more subdued. We don’t know all of the details surrounding the birth and conception of these babies, but the likelihood of having this many babies at once without some type of intervention is slim. The birth of high order multiples (HOM), while it is amazing, it’s troubling.

First, it’s very dangerous. I can speak first hand as a mother of multiples. Multiple pregnancies are closely monitored, and I routinely went for ultrasounds and stress tests during the last 2 months of pregnancy. This monitoring is because the risk of nearly all major complications for mother and children are higher. I was lucky to have no complications and to go full term–that makes me part of the minority of twin moms. If the risks are this high for twins, can you imagine how high the risks are when a woman is pregnant with 8. The risks to mother and children are very high.
Another ethical issue that arises with an HOM birth is the difficulty that arises in giving adequate care to that many babies. In talking with other twin moms who formula feed, they estimate that formula would cost over $200 a month. Even if this mother is providing some breast milk, the cost for just food would be nearly $1000 a month. By the time you add the cost of other basic necessities, paying for these kids would be nearly impossible. The other issue would be basic care. When my twins were born, I spent nearly all of my time feeding, diapering, burping, and clothing them, and I had help. My spouse was here, and my mother was here for the first week. It was a daunting task, and my twins were full term. Since these babies are micro-preemies, their care will be even more challenging. They will need to eat often, probably every two hours, and there is no way possible that one or even two people can feed all eight of these babies. Plus, the babies will likely have feeding and breathing difficulties associated with low birth weight and prematurity. Moreover, reports indicate that this family already has 6 children. Taking care of 14 children, including 8 preemies is a nearly impossible task.
There are also social and economic costs that the larger community faces in cases like this. The hospital and insurance costs in these cases is huge, and I can’t help wondering if care for other babies in that hospital is suffering. Who knows maybe the hospital has some additional temp nurses to handle these babies, but I wonder if the care of other infants is being compromised because the extreme burden this is placing on the staff. What about the costs of insurance, assuming the family has health insurance? Will all of this medical care be covered; how will the financial burden be shifted around to others. I also cannot imagine in the long term that this family will get by without significant amounts of public assistance. The octuplets will be automatically eligible for early intervention programs, which are often government sponsored programs for children with disabilities. I don’t have a problem with people getting public assistance, but I worry that a case like this is a very heavy burden on the system.
I’m hesitant to comment of the specifics when it comes to ethical fertility practices because we don’t know the exact details of this conception. However, I do worry, as do many fertility doctors, about the ethics of HOM. It’s not likely that a doctor used in-vitro fertilization in this case, but I wonder about the monitoring in this case. In cases where injectible fertility drugs are given, doctors often closely monitor the development of follicles, and the release of eggs. I’ve also heard some speculation about black market fertility drugs, but clearly, we don’t know enough details to focus on the specifics of this conception. Nevertheless, we do know that mainstream fertility doctors do not consider these HOM births a success. Here’s quote from MSNBC:

It’s fine to celebrate the healthy delivery, said Sean Tipton, spokesperson for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. But, a pregnancy resulting in this many babies is “clearly is not a medical triumph. Eight babies is not an outcome anyone should want.”

Unbridled celebration of these multiple births ignores the risks that this type of pregnancy can bring and the huge costs to the medical system and the parents, say experts.

This leads to my last point. I understand that people are fascinated with multiples. I can personally attest to the public reaction to twins. When we are out with the babies, numerous people approach us and provide unsolicited (sometimes nice and sometimes not so nice) comments. Multiples are a spectacle, and it is understandable because it’s different, but media coverage of multiples treats them with wonder, but generally ignores the challenges. I’d like to see more media coverage that is realistic. After all we rarely hear of HOM pregnancies that result in the death of the mothers or babies. I found this case from the UK that highlights a multiple pregnancy gone terribly wrong. I know for every one success story there are other stories that are not so happy.

While multiple pregnancies may be fascinating or interesting, the challenges shouldn’t be glossed over, especially when we are talking about high order multiple pregnancies. From child care issues, to medical and financial challenges the difficulties and risks are numerous. Parents, doctors, journalists, and the general public need to grapple publicly with what these HOM births mean for society. Unreflective celebration and freak show voyeurism seems to be the dominant way of viewing HOM pregnancies at this time.

Jan

27

Racist Mobs at it in Australia (Again)

Filed Under International Racism, Race and Racism | 4 Comments

This from the Telegraph:
Each January 26, Australians gather in parks and on beaches to celebrate all that is great about their country: mateship, sunshine, barbecues and free-flowing beer.

But this year, across the country’s most populous state, the day of national pride turned violent when groups of youths rampaged through suburbs targetting non-white shopkeepers in a display of racism that echoed the ugly scenes of the 2005 Cronulla riots.

In the affluent Sydney suburb of Manly, where hundreds of families had set up their picnics for the day, more than 100 shirtless young men draped in “Aussie pride” flags smashed car windows and vandalised shops.

Carrying signs that read “—- off we’re full”, they paraded up and down the seafron threatening bypassers.

One 18-year-old Asian woman was injured when the gang smashed her car window, showering her in glass and causing several cuts to her arms.

There were also reports that the group attacked a taxi driven by an Indian Sikh and an Asian shopkeeper.

In scenes reminiscent of the Cronulla riots, when 5,000 white Australians congregated in the Sydney beachfront suburb and attacked Lebanese immigrants, groups of men jumped on cars that were stopped at traffic lights and chanted racist slogans to the terrified passengers.

Jan

23

WTH? Malia and Sasha Dolls

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Politics, Pop Culture | 16 Comments

sasha-and-malia-dolls.jpg

Ok, what’s the deal?  The people that brought us beanie babies are now giving us Sasha and Malia dolls.  Apparently, Michelle Obama is not happy about the commercialization of her daughters.  I agree with that, and I’d like to add my own criticism. See the picture…why is it that the dolls don’t even look black?

You know what I mean?

Jan

23

Now That We Have a Black First Family

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Family Issues, Media Praises and Critiques, Original Essays and Analysis, Race and Racism | 3 Comments

I saw this article by John Blake on CNN’s website. The author discusses how having a “married” Black first family could potentially affect African American relationships.  The basic argument is that the Obama’s are good role models because they are a married and financially successful Black couple, who are openly affectionate and loving.

I’m often struck by these kinds of articles–the underlying notion is that Black Americans are in desperate need of role models.  I’m down with role models, but if we want to address the problems of racial inequality and black families, role models are a small piece of the puzzle.

The high rates of divorce and single parenthood in the African American community probably will not decline because we have a married black couple in the White House. Addressing poverty, educational quality/opportunities, and racial discrimination will go a lot further to provide stability to African American families.  I’m not one that thinks the government should spend our tax dollars promoting marriage and I don’t think single parents should be demonize.  My sense of it is that parents and children benefit from loving, stable, and (relatively) happy realtionships.  Much of the resonsibility for maintaining those happy/loving/stable relationships rest with parents, but we also have a societal responsibility to promote and create conditions that help make families happier, more loving, and more stable.  As long as poverty rates, unemployment rates, and other indicators of socio-economic standing lag behind those of whites, its going to be much harder for the typical black family be like the Obama’s.  The Obama’s are clearly a privileged Black family.  They have numerous resources at their disposal that will help them maintain their relationship.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we did more to help create the social conditions that would lower the racial gaps in poverty, divorce, and other family related problems.