Let me just start by saying, yuck.
The Beverly Hills doctor who helped Nadya Suleman conceive octuplets also provided fertility treatment to a 49-year-old woman who is pregnant with quadruplets and is hospitalized at County-USC Medical Center.
Several sources told The Times that Dr. Michael Kamrava transferred at least seven embryos made from younger donor eggs.
Fertility experts said that transferring that many embryos raises the odds of a multiple birth, which threatens the health of the mother and babies.
The California Medical Board is already investigating the octuplets case. In fertility medicine, any pregnancy greater than twins is considered a failure because of the danger it poses to the mother and the babies.
Quadruplet births are rare, with an average of 14 sets born in California each year, according to state records.
“I do think it is concerning, and dangerous, especially to the mother," said one doctor with knowledge of the case. "She is close to 50. When women get to be that age, our fear is the cardiovascular complications, such as stroke or heart attack. That’s how serious this is.”
The woman in the latest case arrived recently at Good Samaritan Hospital for treatment but was transferred last week to County-USC because she lacks insurance, the sources said. Doctors placed her on bed rest until the birth of the babies, which, they added, could be two or three months from now.
Reached by telephone, the woman, who is about five months pregnant, denied that Kamrava was her doctor. She said her doctors urged her not to talk to the media because she is already dealing with a high-risk pregnancy and doesn't need more stress.
"Please respect my privacy," she said.
(The Times has confirmed the information through several independent sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be named.)
The woman has three grown children from a previous marriage but wanted another child with her second husband, who is in his early 30s and doesn’t have any children. She works as an apartment manager; her husband is a contractor.
Kamrava could not be reached for comment and has declined previous interview requests. A woman who answered the phone at his West Coast IVF Clinic said, “If [a] mother wants to bring four kids, so what?”
Doctors at USC and Good Samaritan Hospital also declined comment about the quadruplet pregnancy, citing patient confidentiality.
The California Medical Board has said it is looking into the Suleman case to determine whether a doctor may have violated any standards of care.
The American Society of Reproductive Medicine said it is also examining the doctor's practice. Although it appears Kamrava violated professional standards, there are no laws that limit the number of embryos that can be transferred in a fertility procedure.
Suleman said in an interview with NBC that her doctor transferred six embryos. She gave birth on Jan. 26, and although the births were initially lauded as a medical miracle, public opinion quickly turned when it was discovered that Suleman had six other children, was a single mom and relying on some public assistance, including food stamps and Social Security benefits. In the only other octuplet birth in U.S. history, only seven of the babies survived past one week.
Another case of a multiple pregnancy for a mother who can't afford their upkeep. You can't just stick in a litter of embryos because the parents want it. Most parents want to have as many babies as they can at once, if for no other reason than because IVF costs a small fortune. Maybe Dr. Kamrava isn't obtaining his good results through skill, but through implanting too many embryos. If you put in four, one or two are bound to stick. Or is he putting in so many because the families can only afford one or two shots at IVF.
Los Angeles police officials said they would investigate death threats against the woman who gave birth to octuplets.
Nadya Suleman's publicist said some people had sent threats and other ugly messages via e-mail on a website set up to take donations for the eight babies. Suleman has come under criticism by some for having octuplets after already having six children.
Lt. David McGill of the LAPD's West Los Angeles Division said an investigator was going to the office of the publicist, the Killeen Furtney Group, which is in Brentwood.
"First we want to determine if the threats are being sent to the firm or her," McGill said.
He said if the threats were being sent to Suleman, then most probably another agency would investigate the matter because she does not live in the West Los Angeles area. Suleman lives in Whittier but has been living at an undisclosed location since leaving the hospital.
What did she expect when she set up that website begging for donations? There is no information other than the octuplets' names and weights, and where the public can make donations. Did they really think the words of encouragement would come flooding in.
Other Octuplet Posts
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