Saturday, February 7, 2009

14 kids and counting

I saw the interview Nadya Suleiman gave to Ann Curry about giving birth to octuplets in addition to already having six children.It is quite bewildering that in a country where the debate still rages on and alienates and polarizes the nation regarding Roe vs Wade, the public and the media are so irked and offended by the notion that a young, single, unemployed mother can choose to bear so many children. The philosophy espoused by pro-lifers is that if conception has taken place the fetus is legally deemed as a human and therefore is privy to the same rights as other human beings. Even if the fetuses are conceived mistakenly and remains unwanted by the parents, their choices are over-ruled by the basic perogatives possessed by any human life. On that grounds, here we have a young woman, albeit unemployed and with multiple mouths to feed, being ostracized for her choice to have more kids. It is astounding that she doesn't have an army of pro-lifers applauding and championing her courage, dedication, and love in wanting to bring more children into the world. Now the government is investigating if her medical doctors have violated any ethics code by implanting so many eggs in her uterus, and the pundits are debating whether her unemployment status makes her selfish in wanting and bearing more children that according to them she is unable to provide for. Lest they forget, she does live with her parents who have been supporting her prior six children and her all this time. But no, her parents' home and help have been labeled 'modest' at best. Again, the mother's rights and opinions are quickly trampled upon and discarded by the moral opinion generated by the public. The simple fact that she wants those children and she is brave enough to give them life and love is not good enough anymore. Her motives, her mental health, her ability to provide for them or lack of are put under the microscope. Now she is put on a soapbox where she has to publicly defend herself and her actions. She is being judged for wanting children. Imagine what the public would have to say if Nadya decided not to keep any those children?