Original Air Date:
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Nadya Suleman In the Headlines:
After being the nameless mother who gave birth to octuplets in January, Nadya Suleman was already making headlines. As soon as her story began to leak, however, the tone of the media quickly began to shift. It was revealed that Nadya was a single mother by choice, unemployed and on disability because of a work accident. Not only was she a single mother, she had 6 other children under the age of 8 using a fertility doctor. Since the birth, Nadya has spoken during choice interviews, but her father asked to appear on Oprah's show to defend his daughter.
Ed Doud - the Octuplet's Grandfather Speaks Out:
Oprah welcomed Ed Doud to the show, the father of Nadya Suleman and grandfather to her 14 children. He began by saying that the babies are doing well and are surprisingly healthy for their size, while Nadya is physically healthy but under a lot of stress. Describing how he found out about the pregnancy, Ed revealed that even the doctors didn't know Nadya was carrying 8 babies - they were expecting 7. Calling Nadya's mother from work overseas, Ed was told that Nadya was once again pregnant for the 6th time but with 7 babies, and in the hospital. He decided to leave work and come to help.
Ed Doud on Responsibility and Approval:
When Oprah questioned why so many embryos were implanted, Ed explained that Nadya had 2 earlier procedures with 5 embryos each that were not successful - this time they implanted 6 and took a chance; resulting in 8 babies.
When asked if he was ok with Nadya's decision, Ed replied no - that he and his daughter hadn't spoken about another procedure. He was ok with her having 1 or 2 on her own, but didn't approve of her choice to have 14 children.
Ed did have a conversation with his daughter about the expense and love needed for children to help her understand her responsibility.
Nadya Suleman's Dateline Interview with Ann Curry:
A clip was shown of the interview Nadya granted Dateline with Ann Curry, where she expressed a void in her life that she was trying to fill by having.
Ed Doud responded to the clip by saying that his daughter was taken to a secret location while still under medication to do the interview. While Oprah expressed that it was her choice, Ed did agree that he thinks she may have been under duress and perhaps would not say today what she did during the interview.
Oprah cleared up that what the public really wants, is to know who is going to take care of the 14 children and if she will use taxpayer dollars.
Ed Doud on Responsibility and Mental Stability:
When asked, Ed admitted that he did feel that both his daughter and her doctor were irresponsible in not considering the well-being of the children that would be born and the stress on the family. Nadya had faith in her doctor, according to Ed.
Oprah then asked Ed a difficult question - did he think his daughter was mentally stable? Because she made an unstable decision, her father feels that she's not quite mentally complete. He did ask the public not to punish his daughter or her children for her instability.
Nadya's mother, Angela Suleman, and her father have been put under tremendous stress mentally, physically and financially to help their daughter and grandchildren. Ed portrayed that he is doing everything he can to support his family, but that he is personally disturbed at the judgments the media and the public are making about his daughter.
Oprah then showed clips of what some people in the street think of Nadya Suleman. Many of the statements were negative, but some had a thread of hope and compassion for the mother and children.
Ed Doud Tells Nadya Suleman's Fertility Story:
Oprah gave Ed Doud the opportunity to tell the public exactly what he wanted to defend his daughter. Starting with Nadya's trouble getting pregnant, Ed explained that his daughter had blockages that prevented her from getting pregnant naturally. A friend and co-worker agreed to be Nadya's donor and she went ahead with her first pregnancy. When Nadya had her first baby, she was on disability from a work injury and pursuing a master's degree. After 3 children, Ed stated that he could not stop his daughter from having more - though at that time she was caring for her children herself.
Nadya Suleman's Fertility Doctor:
During a commercial break Ed Doud shared with Oprah the conversation he had with Nadya's fertility doctor after the fourth child, where he told him "enough is enough." During the conversation Ed discovered his daughter was pregnant for the 5th time, resulting in twins. When he spoke to his daughter about her responsibility, she told him that she knew what she was doing. Ed explained that his daughter viewed her frozen embryos as her children, and she couldn't bear to dispose of them. Oprah did reveal that Nadya Suleman's fertility doctor is currently being investigated by the medical board in California.
Dr. Oz Joins the Octuplet Conversation:
Dr. Oz weighed in on the octuplet conversation by sharing that fertility treatments are a delicate balance between medical ethics and technology - just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Calling Nadya Suleman "selfishly delusional" to describe her disconnect, Dr. Oz felt it was careless for Nadya to continue to have children to fill a void.
Ed Doud responded to the idea of the void in Nadya's life by explaining she was a loved child, but an only child and struggled with being alone - but that he doesn't know what she needs to be happy at this point.
Public Trust & Opinion, Plus IVF Standards:
Dr. Oz made very strong statements to Ed and viewers when he expressed the small chance that all 8 children would grow up normally, that the procedure was a "major failure of professionalism" and that while the public wants to help the children, they don't trust the mother.
This idea was clarified when 5 different women on Skype expressed their opinions of Nadya Suleman and her decisions, which compared to the earlier clips in the sentiment of the behavior being a failure to that of compassion for the mother and her children
Oprah also had a clip to close the show from Dr. Jamie Grifo of the NYU Medical Center to explain standard IVF procedures. Dr. Grifo called the Suleman births a troubling case and stated that the number of births was not considered a good outcome by medical standards. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine Guidelines show that a woman Nadya's age should not be implanted with more than 2 embryos - with the number increasing as age increases. Dr. Grifo was disappointed that the practice of fertility will be judged on this 1 case, when 44,000 babies were delivered last year from IVF.
