Octuplets born in Bellflower [UPDATED]

A woman has given birth to octuplets at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Bellflower, hospital officials confirmed today.

Updated at 5:10 p.m.:  Two physicians who helped in the deliveries said they had planned in advance for the C-section deliveries but were expecting only seven babies. They got six boys and two girls.

“My eyes got to be the size of saucers,” Dr. Karen Maples said, when it became obvious there was an eighth child. “We just went on and delivered the babies.”

“The orchestrated delivery went off without a hitch,” added Dr. Harold Henry. “The babies are all doing well and the mom is also doing well. There were no complications from the surgery, to the best of my knowledge.”

Henry said that hospital physicians and their assistants practiced two dry runs ahead of time.  “We planned well, and it was well executed,” he said.

Maples said 46 people were involved in the deliveries.

“It was exciting, a little anxious,” she said. “But we were prepared.” She said the mother should be released in a week but that the babies would probably remain in the hospital for at least two months.

The six boys and two girls were born between 10:43 a.m. and 10:48 a.m, the doctors said. The babies each weighed between 1 pound and 15 ounces to 3 pounds and 4 ounces, the physicians said.

Updated at 5:50 p.m.: Dr. Richard Paulson, director of the fertility program at the USC Medical School, called the event “unbelievably rare. When people use fertility drugs, 80% even then are single births. The vast majority of the others are twins.”

Still, fertility experts consider the birth of more than two kids with fertility medication to be not a medical triumph, but “a serious complication,” Paulson said. “We do not ever intend to give someone octuplets.”

Usually, he said, births of this kind are brought on by fertility medication, not in-vitro fertilization. Often, during the medication, several of the mother’s eggs are fertilized. In most cases, Paulson said, the mother chooses to reduce the number of fertile eggs to two, “to make sure the two remaining babies will have the best chance at having good health. To have all those babies, the mother would choose to have selective reduction. Apparently the mother made the decision to carry all the eight babies to viability.”

Updated at 7:20 p.m.:

At a Monday evening news conference, the team leaders -- Maples, Henry, and Dr. Mandhir Gupta -- beamed like new parents. “It was a truly, truly amazing delivery,” Maples said. “We have been talking about this delivery for weeks on end. That’s why when we discovered the eighth, we were so well prepared.” The doctors will do predawn interviews today with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CBS’ “Morning Show,” NBC’s “Today” show and CNN. The doctors said the children, born nine weeks  premature, were in incubators in stable condition, as was their mother. The two girls and six boys weighed between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Five of the infants are breathing on their own. One has needed some help breathing, while two are attached to respirators.

KCAL Channel 9 reported that the babies were born today and quoted a doctor as saying they were “doing quite well.”

In 1998, the first known set of octuplets was born in the United States. The six girls and two boys were born in Houston. One of the babies later died. The others survived and recently celebrated their 10th birthdays.

Read the full Times story about the octuplets.

-- Sam Quinones, Jeff Gottlieb and Carlos V. Lozano

Comments

[Kristy]

Well after reading though all the comments I feel sad that there is so much negativity. Jesh! I have done IVF twice with no luck and now facing a surrogate so how ever the babies get here, it's a blessing. Good luck to the parents! I sure hope there is enough money to support the family!! The kids better get good at a sport and or academics to help with college bc all the college money will be spent on diapers! grins. I hope all 8 stay healthy and mom and dad stay married.

[gina]

I honestly hope you people do not consider yourselves "AMERICANS"! This family probably didn't mean to have 8 children in one pregnancy, but when fertility is needed generally a couple eggs take, and there are a few miscarriages along the way. I personally agree fully with pro-choice and the fact that women can choose to have an abortion in our country, so who is to say that women who WANT their children and have tried so hard to prepare themselves instead of getting "knocked up" should be so harshly ridiculed. It makes me sick to think that it is anyones business (taxpayer or not) to be so cruel to this family. Life is a gift and at least we aren't murdering their children because we live in a country where we are only allowed to have 1 kid. This might not be a miracle, or an act of god or whatever you want to call it, but its none of YOUR business, and let this family be happy. Hopefully you rude people out there can maybe become a little more stable in your own lives, and realize that you live in the best country in the world where things like this are possible! I would never wish death upon anyone, ever... but if any of you become ill with cancer, etc. may you never use the cure that will be found by one of the CHILDREN in this world. All of our parents had to have us in order for us to be alive and I sure as hell think your parents would be ashamed of you... either that or you were raised in some dysfunctional family who obviously didn't teach you to love and be loved. Congratulations to the family who now has 8 more little hearts to love, best wishes and good luck!

[Elaine]

Its's amazing all negative comments these people will hear! If you must leave negative comments just know that nothing you can or will say will bring this couple down! This is a blessing. I wish them all the best! I pray all the babies grow up healthy and without any problems but if complication arise I know that these unselfish people won't wish they had had selective abortion! As for the cost, we spend trillions supporting other countries. I'm happy to think some of my tax dollars are staying in our country!

[Nicola-KiwiChick]

Firstly CONGRATS going out to the parents, WELL DONE!!!!!!!
Secondly........To ALL those that have posted negative comments.............
WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE????? The mother obviously thought long and hard about the impact of having these tots would have and she obviously decided that they can handle it.............So why dont you narrowminded folks out there just leave em alone and get on with your own lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ED]

I think the mother and father should be charged with crimes against the environment. There is nothing so damaging as having a child who in turn for 80 years l damage and pollute the environment.

There is a real shortage of water in this state. In san Diego residents are being asked to cut back by 20 gallons per day and this woman willingly does something like this!!!

I hope they make in the seven figures to support such a large family and can afford to send their brood to private school because I don't want to pay one penny to support the decision of one so careless with regard to the safety of the planet.

But...
I will bet anything that the familiy is 'not' wealthy.
I will bet anything that neither the mother nor father have collage degrees.
I will bet anything that they are going to use this litter to suck the life out of the already dying state of California.
In fact has anyone but me noticed that the father or marital status of the the mother. (Couldn't be that religous to have children out of wedlock now can she).
In fact I will bet my house that this person isn't even in the country legally and that she had planned from the start to use this brood for monitary gain.

[Anja]

OMG! like Apu´s wife!! Manjula! she had octuplets! XD

[Misty]

It is absolutely hilarious to me the people that are making comments about these babies being a drain on society, when you can't even spell or construct an intelligible sentence. Before you go around starting debates, maybe you should learn how to effectively present your case without sounding like a moron.

Personally, I don't want to say one way or the other as to how I feel about someone else having 8 babies. That is not for me to judge. It's not my life. And I don't want people like you sticking your nose into my personal decisions. The fact that we are all sitting here analyzing whether this mother was right or wrong in her decision is outrageous. Who are we to say??? And the doctors? Well, doctors can only advise patients; they cannot force them to do anything. If this mother chose not to kill off any of these babies and go full term, all the doctors could do was to give her to best medical care as possible – which is exactly what they did.

Finally, for all you California residents complaining about illegal aliens taking your tax dollars... YOU SHOULD MOVE OUT OF CALIFORNIA and stop paying State taxes!! If you pay taxes in CA, you are supporting illegal aliens and their children. Period. So if you don't like it, move!! I paid for my own college education... illegal aliens in CA get theirs for free. What's that about?? I’ll never live there. If you don’t like it, leave the state of California. Sorry, Arnold.

[Mary]

Well, I don't think the mother was an illegal if she delivered at Kaiser. She must be employed to have Kaiser unless she's paying out of pocket for her medical insurance.

Second, this isn't a miracle from "God" because she obviously took fertility medication in order to get pregnant. God obviously didn't want her to have children or else there wouldn't have been the need to fertility medication.

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were saying that the mother was a single mom who already had 5 children. Not sure if this is true but if it yet, this is really irresponsible on her part.

My grandmother had a stroke and she is suppose to go to Kaiser in Bellflower but because of this mother and her 8 kids, she has to remain at a different hospital because there is too much media covering the story. We were told that the hospital was closed and not excepting any transfers at this time. Truely sickening!

[angie]

I jsut want to see a "before burth" photo.

[A.M.]

What a wonderful miracle! Yes, even though the birth of these babies came by
way of modern medicine/science, the births are miraculous. I don't know whythe
Media does not want to mention the names of the mother and father. Yes, she is
married and I believe the couple is African-American (Black). That is the reason
for Jay Leno's "Katrina" joke- which was funny. (You know Jay Leno.) It would be
great to show a picture of the proud parents of these eight babies. This accomplishment did make history. Good luck to all!

[A.M.]

What a wonderful miracle! Yes, even though the birth of these babies came by
way of modern medicine/science, the births are miraculous. I don't know whythe
Media does not want to mention the names of the mother and father. Yes, she is
married and I believe the couple is African-American (Black). That is the reason
for Jay Leno's "Katrina" joke- which was funny. (You know Jay Leno.) It would be
great to show a picture of the proud parents of these eight babies. This accomplishment did make history. Good luck to all!

[A.M.]

What a wonderful miracle! Yes,even though the birth of these babies come by
way of modern medicine/science, the births are miraculous. I don't know why
the Media does not want to mention the names of the mother and father. Yes,
she is married and I believe the couple is African-American (Black). That is the
reason for Jay Leno's "Katrina" joke- which was funny. (You know the humor of
Jay Leno.) It would be great to show a picture of the proud parents of these
eight babies. This accomplishment did make history. Good luck to all! And I hope
this message gets displayed because so many people are still hateful toward
others. Sometimes certain messages/comments don't get posted. Thank you
for posting this one.

[Georgi]

Congratulations to Mom and Dad on the arrival of the Eight! Amazing and wonderful. Invest in a good camera or two as the kodak moments will be fast and furious I'm sure. So here's hoping everyone is well and the wee ones plump up quickly and breath strongly on their own and that there are no further complications.

To the surprising number of thoroughly nasty, mean, cruel, selfish, racist and ignorant people who posted such vile, disgusting and bigoted thoughts, all brought on by the birth of 8 children; who are you people? How can I identify you when next I visit LA. Are you all good church going folk? Many of you seem to be. One nasty piece of work couldn't type out god, she had to type G_d. Does she think that hides the filth in her mind that she aim at people around her? Oh, and ED@6:56 who thinks the parents should be charged with crimes against the environment. Tell us what you drive ED, and don't lie. Do you recycle by the numbers? So so many of these idiots. Is it always like this or has this family brought out the wingnuts in force?

Tell you what. Suggest to this family that they move north to Canada. We love children up here. And we don't whine about the medical costs. We didn't start the recession and tho we are getting walloped by bad Bush policies of the past we are in much better shape up here than you down there. In all of Canada our population is about the same as the your state. We have lots of room and water. And no we are not going to sell it. We need it. Our education system is better up hear too. We can handle 8 more:)

[American]

This family already has 6 -count them 6- kids. This was a frankenstein experiment gone wrong. The American taxpayers are already supporting the other kids. This is unbelievable.

[Mary]

This is an abuse of the medical system. I doubt these people have the money to pay for the medical care themselves, so taxpayers are paying for it in an already tough economy. They already have 6 kids, so the doctor is unethical who allowed this to even start. This is not a miracle, it is a man-made disaster. God had no part in this.

[Ruth]

People, you don't know how these babies were conceived so stop throwing darts.

Those of you that speak about God then pray to God for these 8 babies to be healthy and make it through their early delivery.

I can't phathom some of your nasty comments. These are human children that were born! I'm sure no one planned on 8 but that's the way it is.

You're not paying for their upbringing so let the parents worry about it being they all live.

[katt]

Ridiculous! 8 babies! They are so low in birth weight that some if not all of them will have some sort of disibility, whether it be physical, mental, etc.... And supposedly this "super Mom" has like 6 kids already and is already on supposed goverment & state assistance......so yeah, I'm really thrilled that I can work my butt off to take care of my family and my paychecks that are so overtaxed can help take care of her and her growing brood. I understand all you bleeding hearts out there about a woman wanting to have a child of her own, but I'm telling you, you can adopt a child and love it just the same as if it were from your belly. Stop being so ignorant and selfish, loving a child is not about YOU it's about the child. Enough already!!!!

[Bernie]

Here's one for the record:
This family ALREADY HAS SIX CHILDREN!
Why do they need any more?
When is enough REALLY enough?!?!
C'mon folks...14 children?!? Who is paying to raise all these children?
Answer: You and Me!
I had my two...has anyone heard of "zero population growth"?

[GodSeesYou]

Pro-life forever!
Good job Mommy!
Raising eight babies will be hard, but worth it.
Eight lifetimes of joy.
God's blessings are upon you, no matter what any *sickos* say about overpopulating the earth! If they think we're heading for overpopulation, they should feel free and kill themselves *since they have the option* instead of advising people to have abortions.

[No assumptions]

You people are assumng alot! No one said she took fertility medication, no one said she's on welfare (but it's okay to have 8 babies on the welfare roles as long as it's one at a time?) No one said this was assisted reproduction.

Until you have the facts don't assume anything including that there are 6 other children. I have not heard that, where did you dig up that one?

It doesn't matter what the birth weight is, it's the gestational age and development of the organs. 31 weeks is pretty far for 8 babies in the womb at 1 time. There are many health babies born at 31 weeks alive today.

Actually, this isn't any of our business. It's the parent's business. Don't you have anything else to do than trash someone else's happiness?

I hope these babies continue to thrive and prove those that feel they shouldn't be here WRONG.

[barbe]

Helloo, there is no "Dad", so to speak. This was done by fertility treatments. This woman already has 6 children by the same method, and is single, unemployed and lives with her elderly parents, who tried to stop this insanity. But apparently she found one Dr. who was willing. And you who belong to Kaiser will end up paying for it. Her parents are stuck with raising the kids. What cracks me up, that this mother wants to nurse all 8 of them. Yeah, right, like around the clock. Shows her state of mind. I feel so sorry for her parents and for the kids too, all of them.
Barbe

[rose]

This is terrible. Mom has 6 children already. She should have herself
fixed. No way can she take care of all these children.
God please watch over the children.

[Joe]

First this is single mom with 6 kids already. Who know who dads are? Now she brings a liter of 8 kids into an already over populated world. These babies will cost taxpayers millions. They already have. I think this is criminal and should not have been allowed. How many families will not be able to get heath care because so much money is spent on them. Someone said they are humans and deserve a chance. Then I say increase taxes to pay for people responsible like this. By the time they are 18 taxpayers will be out 100 million. But care for them will be for the rest of their life if there is brain damage.

I bet she will have more kids.

[sapna Jain]

CONGRATULATIONS................A very good news to entire world.
We are happy to hear,Our best wishes.

Sapna.

[Annie]

Conceiving 8 children at once is an oddity even with IVF, which apparently this woman had, according to a story the Times posted today.

Only unethical fertility doctors allow this to happen. Most will implant 3 at the most just so there isn't such a potentially harmful health situation for mom and babies alike.

So it's not like this is an accident. And it's unfair to judge the many couples who responsibly choose fertility treatments. Stories like this give them a bad name.