Around the Web…

Some links for your Wednesday afternoon:

• Can an eating disorder be blamed on a parent? — Jezebel
• Want to design your ideal baby? Scarily, now you can — MomLogic
• In the wake of the octuplet birth, should limits be set on IVF? — Health.com
• Jeff Gordon shares private images of daughter Ella Sofia, 20 months — JeffGordon.com
• Four families welcome four sets of quadruplets in a six-week period… all at the same hospital in Phoenix! — Today Show

Comments

Wow, on our way to Gattaca! I can understand wanting to do gender selection but eye and hair colour? Crazy.

- Lorus on February 25th, 2009

No! Limits should be set on IVF! Not every womans circumstances are the same. Don’t punish others for some asses mistake! That doctor should have known that IVF in the past has worked perfectly well on Nadya.

- mary on February 25th, 2009

Mary, he did know. He is the one who did her other procedures. :-/

- MZ on February 25th, 2009

I believe there needs to be limits on the number of embryos implanted. Not the number of IVF procedures. If someone wants to have 14 IVF and can afford them, it is their prerogative. But to implant more than 4 embryos at a time is just not right and causes lots of health problems for both carrier and fetuses. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again; women are meant to have one baby at a time, not 8.

I also think parents have a lot to do with a child’s weight since they are the ones buying and making the food their child eats, plus they are the ones setting examples per activities. I think genetics has very little to do with obesity, and if it does there are ways to help the children. Positive words are so important. It is horrible for parents to say things like “you’re getting fat there” or “if only you would lose 15 lbs you’d be prettier/handsomer” or “see now, that’s why you weren’t picked for the team, you’re too fat.” Parents also can also get involved in the school through the PTA and ensure the school provides healthy food in both vending machines and cafeteria. Not to mention ensuring physical activities are made available to the kids after school. So yeah, parents have a lot of influence over their child’s chances of obesity.

Lastly, to choose what kind of child you want I think it is a bit far-fetched to be able to pick the eye and hair colour. Just look at the baby pictures of your partner and decide if that’s who you want to parent your child. I do believe people should be allowed to choose the gender if they can. There is nothing sexist about that. People just prefer a certain gender over the other, especially if they already have children of one gender (i.e., 3 girls and would like a boy or vice versa).

- eternalcanadian on February 25th, 2009

how many people can afford to have 14 procedures though? its extremely rare for all embryos to take and then to go on and split (identical twins)so for others who don’t have immense finances at their disposal having to go through multiple procedures is incredibly unfair especially if the embryos don’t take.

- waffle on February 26th, 2009

i think it’s unfair to the children being born to have all kinds of permanent problems just b/c their parents wanted x # of kids or to get the biggest bang for the buck. it’s not healthy for the children or their mother to be carrying more than 3 kids at once. that’s why there are guidelines. it’s unfortunate that insurance doesn’t cover the cost of ivf. fertility treatments should be covered imo. but, i don’t think the cost should be a reason to put yourself and your future children in danger. sure, there are exceptions to every rule, but ivf should be first done with the suggested # of embryos. also, the cdc does keep a list of fertility doctors and their success rates. the national average is 47% success rate i believe. suleman’s doctor had a 10% success rate, which is probably why he was so reckless in the number he implanted.

- MZ on February 26th, 2009