Unless you live your life free of TV, radio, newspaper, or computer (which obviously you don't since you are reading this)...you've certainly heard about the "Octuplet Mom" that gave birth to 8 babies at once in California. Soon after the births, the mom's name (Nadya Suleman) and some interesting facts about her became public. She has no job, no husband, lives in a 3-bedroom house with her parents, already has 6 other kids under the age of 8, and had these babies through "in vitro fertilization" (IVF)...taking eggs from her body, joining them with sperm, and implanting the fertilized eggs back into her body.
Since all these details came out, the web, talk shows, newspapers, etc have all come out blasting this woman for the choice she made...and also condemning the hospital for the choice it made to implant these eggs. This uproar hasn't been contained to just secular places...I have seen Christian sites as well as Christian friends share how appalled they are about the whole situation.
But (although this may not be a popular opinion) I have a different take. The woman went through the 1st step of in vitro fertilization years ago (the process of fertilizing the eggs). During this process, over a dozen eggs are fertilized, but only a few are implanted at a time (which resulted in the first 6 children). Prior to this latest pregnancy, Nadya still had 6 "frozen embryos" (fertilized eggs) that had not been implanted (2 of them split causing twins which is why she had 8 babies). So here was the choice she was faced with --- have the doctors implant the eggs, or have them destroyed.
So for the Christian, which is better? The Bible tells us life begins at conception (when the egg and the sperm meet), so these were just frozen fertilized eggs, they were little lives. Why are Christians so appalled that this woman saved the lives of what God created through man? If anything, this should be a time to bring awareness to the in vetro fertilization process and to inform believers that if they choose this process to be sure they are willing to have EVERY fertilized egg implanted at some point. The alternative is death...not really different than abortion...and 1,000's of these fertilized eggs are destroyed every year because people can't afford to have them implanted again, because they have a kid the first time and decide to stop, or they are just unaware of what happens to the "leftovers".
So I for one am glad she decided to choose life rather than destruction. It is fine to argue whether these kids should be put up for adoption, whether she is fit to raise these children on her own, etc, etc, etc...but please, praise God that these children were granted life in the first place!
6 comments:
But if they were destroyed instead of being born to this irresponsible mother (who doesn't have the capacity to take care of them), wouldn't they go to heaven and be better than the life they will have?
Well, first of all, I don't know the woman, so I won't make judgments on good mother/bad mother, and even if she is currently in the "bad" category, I believe in the power of God to change anyone's heart!
But to better answer...let me ask you a question...if this woman decides tomorrow that she isn't fit to care fo these kids, should she be allowed to kill them and send them to heaven? Hopefully you would say, "Of course not!". Well, for the Christian, an unborn life is just as precious and valuable in the eyes of God as an infant.
I had not really heard/read much (not something I "researched") so what you posted was the most I had heard. I did hear something on the news tonight about it and all the NEGATIVE comments. I feel bad for her. I agree with you in saying that that is a LIFE even as that tiny egg! It was GOD'S plan to give her children from ALL of the eggs. He could have chosen just one or two, but He didn't.
No, it's not "right" that she a single mother living in a 3 bedroom place with now 14 children...BUT...that's her choice and she did not SIN in doing so.
If people are afraid of HER ruining or abusing the Welfare system...SHE is not the one I am concerned about...and I'll leave it at that!
:)
It seems that implanting six at a time was unwise and unresponsible. I am not sure how many were implanted the first time, but the fact that she had six babies provided a good indication that a high percentage of the embryos would develop into babies this time around.
Can the embryos be implanted in another woman? This lady choose to put all of the embroys at high risk and then cost the tax payers a lot of money by choosing to implant that many at once.
According to God she was wrong (a sin) to start the process without a Father and out of wedlock. To try to bring all of them into the world at once was another unwise choice.
Now that the babies are in the world, they should be put up for adoption and never go home with her. Based on this lady's past choices, she has proved that she is not a responsible parent.
The future should be based on what is best for the children.
I disagree with Joni (in a friendly way) that it was God's plan to give her children from ALL of the eggs. God's plan was not followed from the beginning and He was under no obligation to step in and change things, although He could have. The process was already set in place by the original wrong choice and continued by choosing to implant that many at once.
What if the sperm donor had been HIV positive. Then if all of the babies came into the world HIV positive, would it have been God's plan and choice for that to happen?
None of this was God's plan. It was Nadya Suleman's.
She may have stepped outside of the will of God with sin in this issue, but ultimately God created and gave life to these children.
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21
Who knows...one of them may be the next Billy Graham. Reminds me of Joseph in Genesis when his brothers sold him into slavery..."What you intended for evil, God intended for good".
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