"Octo Mom" - IVF laws

I really didn't care about the first news feeds that crossed my cursor regarding the California mom who recently gave birth to 8 babies. It's just another litter and another Discovery show; I clicked elsewhere. But the story is pervasive and made its way to the morning and evening news. Nestled between the debates about the stimulus bill tonight, both Fox and MSNBC injected this human interest story.

Both anchors injected their strong opposition. MSNBC's talking head basically made her out to be just a crazy loon - end of story: OctoMom now has 14 kids, no daddy, no job, etc and she insisted to transfer 6 embryos. Fox's talking head (I'm being gracious) took her anger out on the medical community. She opined that creating embryos in the lab was akin to murdering babies. "Where are the laws" she asked her doctor panelists? One top doc's response was that most clinics absolutely follow the rules set out by the ASRM (1-3 embryos transferred dependent on strict factors). As he was trying to explain how most ( a lot?) of embryos are not viable "like any seed", she cut him off and slammed him for not answering the question about how many embryos were being killed every year.


To her credit, her question inspired me back to the blog, "where are the laws"? Here is an opportunity to take some negative press and turn it around. Since science has been invited back to Washington, let's get this addressed.


Let's start with this law: infertility treatment should be treated as a disease> thus covered by insurance (or, gasp, universal health care) > thus less need to produce unnecessary embryos (low stim cycles) .

Less drugs, less embryos, less neo natal intensive care costs for multiple preemies= duh!

Enough developed nations already employ these laws with this science; the results are out.

Having just dealt with a local politician who wanted to kill the IVF mandate in my state, I can safely say (as did he) that he didn't understand the personal plight that leads one to IVF. No one gets it that isn't intimately involved with it. Let's get some normal IF patients onto these talking head panels.

SO what now??

All in one week, the Chickadee is gone and the IVF mandate in Arkansas is saved. Whatever will I do with myself?

The Politician goes public and admits the error of his ways -so to speak

This just in:



A statewide paper wrote a hard hitting article about The Politician and his bill. (They also didn't fact check with him before going to print - per his response).
No hot button was left unpressed. The writer made some pretty heady insinuations about T.P.'s positions.

T.P. responded to the article at another online venue. -TP is blogging now!- He did admit that he learned lessons from us in the infertility community. That "our positions have merit and that we are a powerful force." I'll leave the commentary to the other parts for you.


He still cites (and insists on) a study by CAHI that states that IVF raises health care costs for Americans. I could poke him for this. They are NOT an independent source. They are lobbyists for the insurance industry. Google them to see just how independent: - Calls "President Bush's Plan Vital to Curing Ills of America's Health Care" and calls President Elect Obama's health care plan "A Recipe for Doom". They are uniformly against mandates. Whether you agree with their positions or not, you must agree, they are not an independent source, TP.


But at this point I am not concerned about TP's impetus. He apologized (sortakinda) and he's not pursuing the bill.

Back in December, TP said, "I think it’s a mandate that is hard to defend". He has obviously changed his mind.



Way to Go TP. I may not agree with everything you say in your editorial errr blog, but the bill is off. Can we be friends again?

The Chickadee didn't make it.

My fourth ultrasound today showed that the heart probably stopped beating last week. This is not a tremendous surprise considering my previous ultrasound results that were not very encouraging. "It was most certainly due to a chromosomal problem from the outset".

The most curious thing is that to this minute I still have morning sickness and can feel twinges in my uterus. I am told that this is the placenta growing like it is supposed to despite the demise of the fetus. Can I tell you that feeling pregnant when you're not - sucks?

Am I heartbroken? No. Am I sad? Very. Years / months of hopes dashed keep accumulating. We, that are struggling with infertility, keep on keeping on. Thank goodness for medical science in addition to faith to give us hope. Thank goodness that IVF is mandated in Arkansas and I have some frozen embryos to try again.


I have some silver linings:


> I have frozen embryos.
> I have my God to remind me about Nature's way.(Science and Nature: what a delicate balance)
> The company I work for recently deployed good private short term disability. I can now enroll in time to have paid benefits when maternity leave DOES happen for me. For me this is a tremendous benefit. Now, I can take time off work to bond with my newborn and still be able to pay the bills that warm my house and fill my fridge. In my 20 years in the workforce, this is the first company I have been employed by that offers health insurance- much less disability. Now I'm just like families in all other developed nations!

Do these sentiments make me a socialist Sarah Palin? Or is my situation (insurance, disability, and state mandate) a free market example? Just call me Hussein.

( I didn't intend to mix my technical logs with my political logs. Strange how that's been my evolution)





I'm going to step out and catch this grand sunset.

Bill to Repeal IVF mandate won't go forward?

I heard from a couple of reliable sources that The Politician has given his word that he is not pursuing the bill any more. ( He won't communicate with me anymore. Wonder why? I've been so generous to remove his letter and comment and name and bill?) ;-)

We're all waiting to hear or see this proof on Monday , but I believe The Politician is going to do the right thing.

The local rally has increased by hundreds strong. Dang that feels good.

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Bill still shows on Legislative Calendar

I am not quite ready to pull the trigger reverting all the posts to their original state. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt that he WILL be withdrawing the Bill. Yet as of this morning I still see it on the State calendar. It is to be "introduced" Jan 9.

I want to keep my end of the bargain- as I recall it - for just a little while longer. I will not speak about him by name, yet.

Meanwhile, I am gathering contacts in the news and legislative field so to prepare myself for public opposition to this proposed policy change.

I have no problems being the face to this opposition.

Your support and comments here are all the muscle I need.