Octuplets spur calls for regulation of assisted reproduction
Steve and Lia Sulkin know how desperate parents can get to have children.
They had seven miscarriages on the way to two healthy children in separate pregnancies through assisted reproduction. They limited the number of embryos to two or three at a time, and wrestled with each decision every step of the way.
So when a California woman had octuplets recently through in vitro fertilization, the Vernon Hills couple were dumbfounded at the mother's and doctor's actions.
"It does appear," Lia said, "they acted in an incredibly irresponsible and selfish way."
The octuplets case is prompting calls for tighter regulation of fertility clinics. While the Sulkins think government regulation should be a last resort, others say the case is a wake-up call for more oversight.
"This case should become the poster child for the need for more regulation in this industry," said Debora Spar, president of Barnard College in New York, whose book, "The Baby Business," probed the ethics of the $3 billion industry.
Nadya Suleman, the unemployed, single mother in the case, has six previous children through assisted reproduction, reportedly after getting $168,000 in disability pay. NBC plans to air an interview with her today.
Assisted reproduction is associated with a higher risk of birth defects, with in vitro having roughly double the incidence of cerebral palsy. Multiple births greatly increase the chances of defects and threaten the health of the mother.
Because of those risks, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine guidelines generally call for no more than two embryos to be implanted in a healthy woman under 35, and for women over 40, no more than three to five.
But no law enforces the guidelines, though some countries, including Britain, do restrict the number of embryos.
Fertility specialists say cases like the octuplets are isolated, and that industry advances have led to increasingly fewer multiple births.
Dr. Edward Marut, the medical director of Fertility Centers of Illinois at Highland Park, said a much safer option he recommends for healthy women with good eggs under 35 is single embryo transfer.
Techniques have improved to where single embryos have about a 50 percent success rate, not as high as the 70 percent rate for multiple transfers under similar conditions, but without the same level of risk.
"The rule is," Marut said, "the younger the patient, and the better the chance of getting pregnant, the more conservative you should be in embryo transfer."
Implanting eggs through IVF typically costs more than $10,000, but Illinois law requires insurance companies to cover infertility treatment.
Clinics that violate the embryo guidelines can be kicked out of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, which affects whether insurance covers their services.
In the octuplets case, the Medical Board of California is investigating whether there were any violations of medical standards by the doctor.
• Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.