Octuplets' mom identifies her fertility clinic in Beverly Hills

Whittier mom Nadya Suleman told NBC in an interview that aired this morning that she sought treatment at a Beverly Hills clinic for all her in vitro fertilization procedures, including the one that resulted in the birth of octuplets.

The 33-year-old said she went to West Coast Infertility Medical Clinic -- now named West Coast IVF Clinic -- headed by Michael M. Kamrava. He describes himself on his website as "an internationally recognized leader in the field of in vitro fertilization" who has helped pioneer "breakthrough technology that revolutionized IVF, reducing risks to both the mother and child." That procedure also helped reduce costs, according to the website.

According to statistics collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, his clinics performed 20 in vitro procedures in 2006 on women under 35. Of those procedures, four resulted in pregnancies and only two of those resulted in birth. One of those women delivered twins. His pregnancy rate and live birth rate are far below the national average, according to the statistics.

At the same time, the average number of embryos that he transferred per procedure -- 3.5 -- was among the highest in the country for women under 35. Fertility specialists say that a high number of embryo transfers usually reflects either a patient population with an especially poor prognosis or problems with the laboratory.

Medical guidelines established by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine recommend transferring no more than two embryos per procedure in women under 35 except in "extraordinary circumstances."

Suleman told NBC's Ann Curry that her treatment was "very appropriate." He implanted six embryos, which she had remaining from previous procedures because of her medical history, which include miscarriages and scarred fallopian tubes.

"At the time I was so focused, so fixated on wanting so many that I just kept going," Suleman said. Because the success rates are low, Suleman said, "the most I would have ever anticipated would have been twins. It wasn't twins times four."

She said implanting that many embryos, even after having six young children at home, was "nothing different" from before.

"He did nothing different," she said.

Kamrava could not be reached for comment this morning.

Since the birth, Suleman has come under fire for going ahead with all the pregnancies when she already had six children at home. She is a single mother and a graduate student who lives with her mother.

She denied getting pregnant to make a lot of money and told Curry that money is "paper." She said she is not on government assistance.

She said that with six children, she was struggling financially to support them and likely would not have been able to make it without the support of her mother, who allowed the family to stay with her in her three-bedroom Whittier home.

"I will feed them; I will do the best I possibly can," Suleman said in the interview. "In my own way, in my own faith, I do believe wholeheartedly that God will provide in his own way."

KTLA released video today showing Suleman at the clinic in 2006 talking about the in vitro process.

"I was slightly pessimistic, then I realized, yeah, it worked," she said in the interview, which also showed two of her children.

The video shows a doctor, which KTLA identified as Michael Kamrava, describing the medical process.

-- Alan Zarembo and Kimi Yoshino

Are you a patient or former patient of Dr. Michael Kamrava? Contact Kimi Yoshino at this link.

Comments

[Jim in Pasadena]

The mom obviously has mental issues for which she should have been treated, so she gets a pass. The Beverly Hills doc, not so much. How much more irresponsible, greedy and dangerous could this idiot be? He endangered the life of his patient and the experts say some if not many of these kids will have lifelong health problems and disabilities related to extremely permature birth. Thank you Kaiser for the outstanding performance at birth and beyond. But what did those 56 medical personnel, etc cost and what continuing medical expenses can be expected? This idiot should have his license pulled for malpractice, be billed and sued by the HMO for expenses, and vilified and condemned in the court of public opinion so no doctor would ever again consider doing such an irresponsible thing.

[Richard Nostril]

Idiocracy - The idiots multiply while the intelligent realize that overpopulation is one of the BIGGEST problems facing our city, state, country and planet. Wake up? Probably not. Just watch more TV and don't think about evolving past the caveman mentality that dominates our society. This is the year 2009?

[bobnweho]

The mother, if not insane, then has serious mental health issues. How does she expect to care for, nurture, and give even-handed emotional comfort to 14 children? Who is going to change the diapers (that will be a full-time job in itself), bathe these children, feed them, take them to the doctor (I don't think the mini-van that seats 14 has been invented yet), poddy train 8 toddlers at once, help 14 children with their homework, etc. since she thinks she can do it without paper (money). Oh that's right she is going to pray and God will help her. I would be LMAO if this weren't so tragic.

[gala]

Does anyone know if a guardian for the other children can be appointed or if eventually the other children -not this litter- can sue Kamrava for child endangerment?

Imagine what the quality of their lives will be now that the family has more than doubled. And it is all the fault of a doctor who really should never have considered this. Let alone done it.

It will be interesting to hear how he justifies his little CYA routine.

But if the kids go onto public assistance I wonder if a taxpayer class action suit against Kamrava can be initiated. for reckless endangerment to the previous children, if nothing else.

The saddest thing about this is that the two adults responsible for this-Nadya and the doctor -who by any rational standard should have taken the existing children into account first and foremost failed the children who were already there in such a selfish way.

What a hellish life these innocent kids are now condemned to.

-gala1

[LilyC]

It does raise very interesting ethical questions. Doctors are not in a position to establish whether a mother is financially capable of supporting her children. So at what point does someone tell this particular woman no? She clearly could afford the IVF treatments, which to my knowledge are not covered by insurance. So if she can afford the procedure, and no psychological or financial evaluations are required, who's job is it to say no you have enough? If she had had twins instead of octuplets, would we have even heard about this and would anyone be talking about this? What if she was a millionaire?

There are times when we wish the government would step in and tell someone they have more than enough children to care for, but do we really want the government regulating our reproductive systems? I thought that was why Roe v. Wade was so important to so many of us?

[Mom in VA]

What clinic would keep pumping babies out of a woman who suffered severe depression, had no job, no husband, on disabilty, with six kids? SHUT THEM DOWN!!!!!!

[Sean]

Is there a 12 step program for being addicted to babies? If so, Octo-Mom needs to be enrolled immediately. The fertility doctor that allowed this to happen should also have his medical license suspended for the serious lapses in judgement in this fiasco.

[stephanie]

Give the poor mom a brack i think its a great idea to have alot of kids its fasinating and i have one of my own....

[Frieda O]

She wouldn't have been allowed to adopt children because she's mentally Ill.

Aren't there municipal codes that prevent 16 people from living in a 1550 square foot house?

[Madeleine]

She has no repect for her own mother. The reason she is not on welfare is because her mother clothed and fed and housed those babies she already has. Her mother said that this selfish person did not give her nickle of her law suit money for the injuries she sustained at work, probably because she used it to pay for the invitro. Her mother should toss her and her brood out. She will make a lot of money on a book exploiting her own self indulgence and will not need her mother's help anymore and hopefully she will stay of public assistance.

[Angie]

ALL OF YOU NEED TO MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS AND STOP CRITICIZING THIS WOMEN NONE OF YOU ARE PAYING A PENNY OUT OF YOUR POCKETS TO HELP HER!!! I JUST HOPE YOU ALL THINK ABOUT IT TWICE WHEN YOU WISH THAT HER KIDS BE TAKEN AWAY FROM "THEIR" MOTHER AND HER BE PLACE IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL... HOW WOULD YOU HAVE LIKE TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOUR FAMILY JUST BECAUSE YOUR MOTHER HAD TO MANY KIDS THAT IS BEING IGNORANT AT LEAST TO ME! I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK WITH YOUR BABIES THEY WILL BRING LOTS OF HAPPINESS TO YOUR LIFE!!!

[June Montalbano]

Her mother should toss her and her children to the street. Does Nadya expect her rapidly aging mother to support her and the 14 children? What's the comment that money is "just paper" all about. This woman is delusional; her children should be taken from her and her monther should retire after working her entire life. Enough with this.

[Rita]

"who else thinks this woman is a giant moron who should have all her kids taken away and herself placed in a mental institution???"

I do.

[Enough Already]

The woman may be a moron, but the clinic should be held responsible for all healthcare costs of the eight infants until they are fully grown and on their own. It was beyond irresponsible to implant an unemployed woman who has six children already with eight embryos. The clinic needs to be held accountable.

[Shaun Mason]

You need a license to catch a fish, but obviously any idiot can have 14 kids, 8 of them at once. Unfortunately you can't force someone to have good judgment. In the end, her children will pay for her selfish and borderline psychotic behavior. We'll just have to sit back and watch the Darwinian drama unfold.

[Kelley]

This woman is the POSTER CHILD of self-centered, selfish Gen Xers! My guess is that she has never respond to the word "No"; or "Sorry honey, you can't." She says having a huge family is all she ever wanted. What if all I ever wanted was a BMW that I couldn't afford to have? She couldn't afford to HAVE 14 babies let alone 1 or 2!!!!! She was going to get what SHE wanted regardless of the costs to her parents or these innocent babies. She won't be able to meet all of their needs and her parents have been roped into a life of slavery......forever.

[Marisa]

No we should not give this lady a break!

She needs some serious mental help if she actually thinks she can provide for her 14 children. I just saw on the news that Octo Mom's own mother has come out and spoken against her decision to have all of those children. The mother of Octo Mom was not even aware that Octo Mom had been receiving disability money. That money could have gone towards the welfare of her already existing children. Also, the mother of Octo Mom stated that she is the primary caregiver of the 6 children, NOT Octo Mom. So how is it that Octo Mom (and the rest of people who think having a lot of kids is a great idea) actually believes she can take care of all 14 children when she did not financially & emotionally take care of her other 6?

I believe if Octo Mom has no problem handing over the responsibilities (financially, emotionally, etc.), then she will have absolutely no problem having the tax payers or anyone else in this world support her & her brood of children.

Also her statement of the public being outraged by this whole situation just because she is a single mother is ridiculous! The reason why we're outraged is because any sane person who understands the word responsibility knows that what she has done to her parents and her children is not responsible parenting.

Bottom line - this is all about responsible parenting!!!

[Jo]

I'm still baffled trying to figure out how this woman paid for these treatments? I have lots of friends who have tried IVF, thought it ran around $20K per attempt? Really a shame.

[Jiim]

Reading through the comments, I was waiting for one Right-to Lifer to rise to take the bait (Angie).

The average cost of a single live birth dleivery is ~$25-35K with no complications. It would be safe to assume that this delivery procedure was in the neighborhood of $1.2 million, given the number of personnel and equipment required plus the hospital stay.

Here's the real indictment of our current for-profit medical care system. The combination of working poor with no insurance accessing care through the emergency room, unisured and people who abuse the system creates the mess we have today.

The only good that comes out of these news-making freak shows is that PERHAPS we'll wake up and see our system of insurance and access to care is one of the worst in the developed world.

We are one of the few developed countries with no organized form a national health care and every day it gets worse. For the "Socialist-fearing" among us, just consider this.

Medicare's annual overhead rate = ~2-3%.

The avergae HMO's overhead rate = ~27%.

[DCB]

This doctor clearly went against guidelines (medical and common sense) and should suffer the consequences. All the sperm came from the mother's boyfriend - as the father, shouldn't he pay child support?

Where is children's services - why haven't they been investigating this. Those kids are going to be so neglected - they should have parents who are able to care for them.

[Kayla]

okay i definitely agree with the majority of people that have already commented. this woman is very selfish for bringing so many innocent souls into this crazy world right now. they will all suffer in the long run. this woman can barely provide for herself, let alone 14 kids!! im sure the only reason her mother hasn't put her and her kids out on the streets already is because of those precious grandkids she now has. just because her daughter is an idiot doesn't mean her grandkids should be put out on the streets, they didn't ask for this. i know the grandma has to be so torn right now. torn between her frustration with her daughter and her love for her grandkids. either way, lets go ahead and add 15 more people to the welfare line.... sad.

[independent skeptic]

What a moron this woman is. No one believes her lie about not being on the taxpayer dole. Single mom, six kids, now 14. Hey Nadya, who's paying for your medical insurance? Food bill?

Tell you what - I'll pay to have your tubes tied. Sound good?

[Carol]

Angie at 12:08--Everyone who pays into the Kaiser insurance system is helping to pay A LOT for these babies. Insurance is a pool of money into which many pay, and a few take out according to needs. Ms. Suleman has taken more than her share, and will continue to take more than her share, based on the lifelong needs these babies will have.

Even if they are insured privately until they are adults, they will all need to find jobs with employer paid health insurance when they come of age, because no insurance company would sell them individual policies. If they are unable to find such jobs, then their health needs will be paid by the public. That would include both of us, via our taxes.

[Rosee]

I just hope that through the publicity and investigation of this travesity that there will be laws put into affect to keep this from happening in the future!!!

This woman doesn't care about anyone but herself! She doesn't care about her senior citizen parents...her children. All she is focused on is her own wants!

She says she can support them once she gets her Masters...WT heck...daycare would cost more than she could earn! Her poor mother is at her wits end...not only taking care of the original 6..but one of the children has autism and requires even more special attention. And who knows if these babies will be healthy or have other medical issues that will need special attention.

It's inexcusable, irresponsible what she did!

And in the end...we the taxpayers will have to foot the bill for this woman's insane decisions.

The doctor/clinic should be held financially responsible for their part in this fiasco.

[pbishop]

Where is this woman getting this kind of money? If she can afford all these fertility treatments and fish lips to boot, maybe she can afford to support them instead of the taxpayers.