The case of the United States mother who had octuplets in addition to her existing six children has attracted world attention.
Babynet ran a poll on the subject, which said:
The US mom who recently had octuplets already has six children, all through fertility treatment.
- That is going way too far
- The more, the merrier
- Her choice, but not for me
Of the 67 people who voted, 50 opted for "going way too far", 16 took the middle ground ("Her choice but not for me") and only one said "The more, the merrier".
Today's
In the news:
In the United States, a national medical society is investigating whether a fertility doctor followed its guidelines when he implanted embryos into a southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets last month.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine confirmed on Tuesday that it was investigating because Nadya Suleman said she received in-vitro fertilisation for all 14 of her children at the same Beverly Hills fertility clinic.
Suleman, 33, told NBC's Today show that she was implanted with six embryos in each of her six pregnancies, resulting in four single births, a set of twins and the octuplets.
No more than three embryos are considered the norm for a woman her age and fertility experts and medical ethicists have been critical of the January 26 birth of the octuplets.
The society has contacted Suleman and her doctor and is prepared to assist the Medical Board of California, which is also looking into the pregnancy, the society's president, Dr R Dale McClure, said.
"Our guidelines provide the flexibility to give each patient treatment individualised to her needs and her best chance to become pregnant without risking high-order multiple pregnancy," said McClure.
"However, it seems that the guidelines may not have been followed in Suleman's case."
Dr Michael Kamrava, a specialist who pioneered a method of implantation, was identified on Monday as a result of the NBC interview with Suleman, who said she went to the West Coast IVF Clinic in Beverly Hills and that all 14 of her children were conceived with help from the same doctor.
In 2006, a Los Angeles TV station ran a story on infertility that showed Kamrava, 57, the centre's director, treating Suleman and discussing embryo implantation.
The state medical board said last week it was looking into the Suleman case to see if there was a "violation of the standard of care".
Kamrava's clinic is a member of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, a sister organisation of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Kamrava's clinic performed 52 in-vitro procedures in 2006. Of those, five resulted in pregnancies and two in births. One of the births was Suleman's twins.
Kamrava has been named in at least five medical malpractice lawsuits since 1991. He has also been involved in other cases against him or his clinic, including at least one alleging fraudulent conveyance.
A former employee accused him and his wife of hiding income to avoid taxes and defrauding insurance companies.
Shirin Afshar sued Kamrava in 1998, claiming discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and infliction of emotional distress. Afshar said Kamrava and his wife did not report about $400 000 in income to the state and the Internal Revenue Service.
She claimed Kamrava made patients who had no insurance to pay in cash and that money was turned over to Kamrava's wife.
The transactions were neither entered into an office computer nor deposited in a bank.
She said she was fired when she complained to Kamrava.
Afshar also claimed she had an abortion in 1992 because she feared she would lose her job. When she told Kamrava she was pregnant, she claims her boss chastised her.
The lawsuit was settled in 1999 for an undisclosed amount. - Sapa-AP