According to the woman's mother, the pregnancy was the result of IVF, too: [link] People wanting kids may or may not be crazy, but the doctor who did the IVF - the woman is under 35 and has 6 kids - why would you transfer more than 1 or 2 embryos? Doctors are supposed to have ethics and guidelines about this stuff.
Gunn: The final score can't be rigged. I don't care how many players you grease, that last shot always comes up a question mark. But here's the thing. You never know when you're taking it. It could be when you're duking it out with the Legion of Doom, or just crossing the street deciding where to have brunch. So you just treat it like it was up to you—the world in balance—'cause you never know when it is.
'Underneath'
Natter 63: Life after PuppyCam
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
flea - Jan 30, 2009 3:47:26 am PST #4199 of 30000
information libertarian
Sparky1 - Jan 30, 2009 3:52:27 am PST #4200 of 30000
Librarian Warlord
why would you transfer more than 1 or 2 embryos?
I think there's still a question of whether or not the embryos will stick, so they often transfer more than 1. (A friend had a reduction after IVF from 3 to 2.)
But six seems above and beyond.
JenP - Jan 30, 2009 3:53:16 am PST #4201 of 30000
Happy Birthday, Anne!
Anne W. - Jan 30, 2009 3:55:03 am PST #4202 of 30000
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
Thank you for the birthday wishes, all!
As of today, I am officially in my forties. It doesn't feel as momentous (for good or for ill) as I thought it would.
amych - Jan 30, 2009 3:58:50 am PST #4203 of 30000
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
Happy birthday, Anne!
Ginger - Jan 30, 2009 4:02:40 am PST #4204 of 30000
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
My DH and I were discussing what we'd name octuplets.
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen.
I'm judgey. I think it's wrong, in the same way that driving three Hummers is wrong.
Sue - Jan 30, 2009 4:06:28 am PST #4205 of 30000
hip deep in pie
Happy Birthday Anne!
Emily - Jan 30, 2009 4:09:59 am PST #4206 of 30000
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
I thought they generally stuck in bunches.
flea - Jan 30, 2009 4:20:00 am PST #4207 of 30000
information libertarian
My understanding of current IVF best practices - and I am happy to be corrected, since I have no personal experience and am drawing mainly from blog-reading and book-reading - is that if the woman is under 35 and has a good fertility history (both true here, assuming this woman's six existing children are children she gave birth to) you transfer two embryos, and even consider transferring only one. To get 8 babies, probably at least 4 embryos were transferred (which would mean 4 cases of spontaneous twinning), and very likely more.
I was very surprised to hear this was an IVF case. Super-multiples have tended to be from fertility drugs (i.e. stimulating the ovaries resulting in multiple ovulations and multiple fertilizations - and even in those cases, the doctors are supposed to monitor the number of ovulations and not fertilize if, say, 8 eggs were released.)
CaBil - Jan 30, 2009 4:30:14 am PST #4208 of 30000
Remember, remember/the fifth of November/the Gunpowder Treason and Plot/I see no reason/Why Gunpowder Treason/Should ever be forgot.
Happy birthday Anne!