I am (like many in this country right now) still trying to wrap my brain around Nadya Suleman and her octuplets.

Below I've written a few thoughts on the ethics of Suleman's decision to have octuplets in addition to six other children she already has.

I also have my own personal blog where I discussed this further, and it can be found here:

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I always try and detach myself from the mass outrage that naturally follows a news story like this. We like to ridicule, condemn, criticize, and tear down people who do stupid things in the news, even when we don't know the whole story. For some reason, even when we don't know this person, we feel the need to lash out in anger, even send death threats.

What we need to realize is that getting angry over people doing stupid, selfish things (especially people we see on the news who we don't know and will probably never meet and will most likely be forgotten come next year and won't have a lasting impact on our lives long-term) is a waste of energy.

That's the reason I decided to read a little more into Suleman's story and hear what she had to say first before making some sort of judgment. I read a little into her background and I watched her video interview on the Today Show.

So, after hearing the rest of the story...

I still think she's a selfish person.

Bringing a litter into this world when you do not have the full means to care for them just because you're compensating for a lonely childhood is selfish. Period.

Furthermore, how can someone with a college education, particularly an education focusing in child care, be so naive to think that this will all work out hunky-dory? Seriously, lady? You think after you complete your masters that you'll magically get a high-paying job to care for 14 children? Seriously? How the hell are you going to find the time to raise 14 kids and get an education? I can understand not wanting to wait around for a guy to marry and raise children the conventional way, but why couldn't you have waited until you completed your education and got financial stability before you made a conscious decision to have 14 freaking kids?!

I don't think this woman has a clue as to what she'll be putting her kids and her entire family through.

Obviously, there's more than enough ethical questions to give us plenty to debate and discuss for a while now. The most significant question that's seems to be the most discussed is should there be greater restrictions on fertility treatments. I used to be on the other side of the fence. I don't necessarily agree with having litters, but I always believed if someone wanted as many babies as they they wanted, then have at it (I think of Angelina Jolie in this instance, and I find it a little weird at the physical similarities between Jolie and Suleman); however, Suleman has clearly shown to be someone who isn't capable of thinking clearly and responsibly and is placing a burden on her children and her parents to fulfill her own selfish need to compensate for a lonely childhood that she had when she was little. I'm not a parent, obviously, but I was always under the impression that parenting is not about what you want, but about what the child needs.

Let's face it, we could all scream at Nadya Suleman until she's blue in the face, but you can't phase a person who has exactly what she wants. This is what she's always wanted, and her kids are probably going to be fine; she's going to get some book deal or some tv show or something, and someone greedy enough will pay her thousands if not millions of dollars, all of which I'm sure she'll put to her kiddies' college education. Let's hope they grow up to be smarter and more ethical than their mom.

So, what do you think?