[jsmith]

Update

Authorities have characterized the case as a hate crime.

You know, the way I see it, EVERY incident of rape is a hate crime.

[bunnyb]

bunnyb, i call it greedy. seriously dude. she had alot of kids beforehand. it was not like she had no children. i'm witnessing this level of greediness with conceiving children in my own life. my aunt has a daughter and has unsuccessfully tried for a child...but it is not that she just wants a child...she wants a boy. a childhood friend with 2 daughters...wanted to have another child...cause she wanted a boy.

I don't get what's wrong with that, star. Your aunt wants a son, your friend wants a son, so they try for another child... if they had another daughter would they love her any less? would they still try for a son? Is that where your issue is? if they were designer baby making and manipulating a son then I would have an issue. If they were dumping their daughters in orphanages or killing rooms then that would definitely be an issue. I don't get it. If a woman chooses to conceive and raise, however many children, then who are we to judge? Okay, if she has 14 kids and is receiving benefits then that isn't on but her husband has a good job and they have every right to increase their family.

Its beyond messed up that now she has 14 kids while who are on fertility have none, still have none.

Life, unfortunately, isn't fair. It's not the fault of the woman, or the babies, that other women cannot conceive. I doubt that legally any fertility doctor can say to a woman that they won't implant embryos because she already has six children (although they would probably advise the patient of the chances of a multiple pregnancy) or that other patients have none.

Also, who is to say that the other pregnancies weren't a result of fertility treatment? Apparently two of the existing six children are twins.

This reminds me of recent comments I read regarding speculation that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were adopting again; I cannot get my head around the vitriol that a non-news story alone can inspire. I simply don't understand it; if they want to adopt/biologically conceive fifty kids, who cares? What harm is that doing anybody in the big, wide world? All I can see is a wonderfully happy looking family who I think have a lot of love for one another. If people choose to have big families then power to them; it's not for me, but if they can love and provide for their children, then they have every right. A woman's right to choose should cover every choice a woman makes regarding children.

/random, disjointed thoughts.

[StarLightBright]

what i don't understand is, if she had 6 kids already why the heck was she on fertility treatment? its not like she had any problems getting pregnant. she has 6 kids to prove that. Its beyond messed up that now she has 14 kids while who are on fertility have none, still have none.

[stargazer]

bunnyb, i call it greedy. seriously dude. she had alot of kids beforehand. it was not like she had no children. i'm witnessing this level of greediness with conceiving children in my own life. my aunt has a daughter and has unsuccessfully tried for a child...but it is not that she just wants a child...she wants a boy. a childhood friend with 2 daughters...wanted to have another child...cause she wanted a boy. i'm sorry, but i think this woman should've put some thought into things before just getting fertility treatment. i'm not condemning the woman, but i think this story brings up an interesting conversation about fertility treatments.

[zoya]

...actually, I have to agree with bunnyb. As much as I'm personally against the whole fertility treatment thing and stuff like this, if I'm truly going to be pro-choice, then I can't really pass judgement on her - especially if she and her husband do have the means to have these children. It is her choice.

[bunnyb]

The BBC stated that the father is present but is leaving shortly for Iraq (he's a contractor). From his job location, they'll have money (the risk factor involved; contractors in the Middle East earn fortunes), and I assume that she is staying with her parents for childcare and support.

Calling her greedy makes me uncomfortable. It's her choice how many children she has; obviously she wanted one or more in addition to the additional six but I doubt she sat down and thought, "hey, I'll raise fourteen children under the age of seven". I think she deserves our sympathy, not condemnation. Yes, it's pretty stupid going for fertility treatment -which increases your chances of a multiple pregnancy- when you already have six and I don't envy her but it was her choice.

[avaadore]

I read that she had the treatment but wasn't expecting to have eight. Then when she found out she didn't want to reduce the number of embryos because she couldn't ''kill them''. She does have a husband, he's a contractor about to leave for Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7860041.stm


As a side note, I feel really sorry for her uterus.

[stargazer]

thank you for posting this CH. i read an article online that said she lives with her folks and i was just outraged. i didn't see anything mentioned about a father or partner. hhmmm. it does smack of greediness to me.

[culturehandy]

Okay, so this woman already had 6 children and underwent fertility treatment..why? So she could have 8 more of course. It's not like she couldn't have children at all, but isn't this just a shade greedy? the news said she lives with her parents...

look it's the family of 14 who lives in their parents house.

[pollystyrene]

(Cross-posted in the Feminist Outrage thread)

Sickening.

Update

[culturehandy]

Polly, I read the scroll about this on CBC this morning. I am disgusted and heartbroken.

[pollystyrene]

(Cross-posted in the Feminist Outrage thread)

Sickening.

[pollystyrene]

WTF? (Safe for work and everything, just weird and stupid.)

[pollystyrene]

I could make a bad joke about something running through his mind, but I won't....oops.

[auralpoison]

This shit is bananas! I've heard of this kind of thing but have never seen it like this!

[Christine Nectar...]

WARNING for animal lovers, especially if you are a cat person: this story is not pretty.

This story broke my heart today.

[candycane_girl]

There have been some kind of terrorist attacks across the city in Mumbai, India. At least 80 people are dead and there have been some hostages taken. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

[mouse]

((((thirties)))) stay safe!

[thirtiesgirl]

What the hell. I thought fire season was over, but starting on Thursday, there was a fire in Montecito (near my hometown of Santa Barbara), and then things started burning in Sylmar, which is the northeast portion of LA, right at the base of the San Gabriel mountains, and now there's a big fire burning in OC. They've lost over 100 homes. I'm feeling so bad for the people in Sylmar and OC.

The other issue is that lots of ash has been blowing up into my neighborhood from the OC fire since about 11 a.m. this morning. It turned the sky this hazy, post-apocalyptic shade of gray and made it look like it was permanently 4 o'clock in the afternoon at 11 a.m. this morning. I went out to get my mail and could barely breathe without coughing. I've spent the day inside with my windows closed, the A/C on, watching news coverage of the awful fires. I haven't been able to go outside at all. I'm a little worried about the fire heading my way from OC, since I'm not that far away, but I think I'm just being a little over-anxious and fatalistic about it...although it's hard not to get that way when you've got this post-apocalyptic atmosphere outside. I'm sure the firefighters will have it contained soon.

Here's more info from the LA Times.

[supermod_l]

First Female Four Star General!!!!!



http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/14/woman.4.s...eral/index.html