BABY BOOM

January 20, 1999
		With the much publicized multiples-births of the McCaughey's and now the Chukwu's, the increasing use of fertiilty drugs has come under scrutiny. Are fertility drugs safe for both the parents and the children? Should there be regulation of these drugs?

Should there be a limit on the number of births allowed at one time? Why do we the taxpayers have to pay for modern science's fooling around with Mother Nature? Should a precedent for fertility drugs be set by the doctors with prospective parent? Should a mother be forced to abort some fetuses for health purposes? Are these high number of embryos the result of replants after test tube fertilization?     December 23, 1998: A look at the science and ethics behind the octuplets born in Houston. September 2, 1998: The FDA has approved the use of emergency contraception. February 11, 1998: Examining the ethics and morals involved in the issues around post-menopausal pregnancy. December 29, 1997: How far should science be allowed to go in helping women of nearly any age to conceive a child? November 20, 1997: Some words from a very proud father, 27-year-old Kenny McCaughey.. April 24, 1997: The oldest known woman to have given birth, at the age of 63. January 27, 1997: An examination of the explosion in assisted reproduction. Browse the NewsHour's Health coverage

By Daniela Carollo Special to the Online NewsHour Just a year after the world witnessed the birth of the first septuplets to the the McCaughey family in Iowa, doctors at Houston's Childrens Hospital announced the birth of the first live octuplets to Nkem Chukwu. Ms. Chukwu left the hospital after spending three months there attempting to extend her pregnancy as long as possible to improve the children's chances at survival. Even with the effort of doctors, the smallest child, weighing in at only 10 ounces at birth and barely ten inches in length, died Dec. 27th. After surviving for just a week, she succumbed to heart failure, that along with lung complications are typically associated with premature and underweight babies. But as the parents mourn the loss of the child, named Odera, they remain cognizant of the unstable health of the other seven babies. The five remaining girls and two boys, ranging in weight from 16 ounces to just over a pound, remain in critical condition. Even if the they do survive, the Chukwu babies may suffer long-term health problems due to their low birthweight and premature delivery. They are not scheduled to leave the hospital until sometime in February. The Chukwu octuplets and the McCaughey septuplets resulted from the use of fertility drugs. In both cases doctors offered a procedure known as selective reduction where the number of fetuses are reduced in order to increase the chances that the remaining babies are healthy and the pregnancy more normal. Both mothers refused the treatment and carried their pregnancies to term. Some ethicists say that the use of fertility drugs needs to be better regulated, but that proposal remains controversial. Meanwhile, some doctors worry the use of unperfected treatments can be both dangerous for mother and child. With the increasing use of fertility drugs, are multiple-birth's safe for the mother? Is it safe for the all the children involved? Is aborting some of the fetuses for the good of the others a viable option? Should there be laws forcing mothers to limit the amount of babies she can birth at once? Your questions were answered by Dr. Mark Perloe, an author and reproductive endocrinologist at Atlanta Reproductive Health Centre and Glenn McGee an Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Faculty in the Departments of Philosophy and History & Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania.   Click to continue...