News is breaking of a woman in India who just gave birth to ten babies at 12 weeks of pregnancy. It is not clear from the story if this woman was a surrogate or an infertile woman undergoing IVF for her own sake. None of the babies survived, which should be of little surprise to anyone since women aren’t designed to have litter births.
And shame on the medical profession for subjecting this poor woman to such mistreatment. Is this the new face of medicine? Women and children don’t really count. The main goal is just getting a baby at the end, no matter the risks and complications or loss of life.
From the news article:
Dr. SK Pathak, assistant superintendent of Sanjay Ghandi Memorial hospital, told Times of India: ‘She delivered nine of them midway. Obstetric and NICU team at our hospital helped her to deliver the 10th one in the operation theatre – all were born dead at almost 12 weeks.’
I’m just sick. One specialist we interviewed for our upcoming documentary, Breeders: A Subclass of Women? (which can’t be finished soon enough!), when asked about the multiple birth risks to women and children stated, “everybody likes a sale – you get two for the price of one.”
Another surrogate in our film was implanted with three embryos, which could have all twinned and left her pregnant with six babies. Then the push would have been to ‘selectively reduce’ the pregnancy.
We are taking a strong stand against such treatment of women and children. Join us and support our efforts!
Author Profile
- Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.
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