The title of this thread says it all. How many children will we as a society ALLOW women to have. We will make the choice for her. We will judge whether she should be married or not, whether sperm donation is acceptable to us or not. It is not enough that we can make that choice for ourselves. We want to force our moral values and choices on to others whether they share them or not. If you want six children and the rest of us decide that two is the ideal number then two it shall be!
The title should be kept in context. The question was about the ethics around the rights of an individual to continue to have children without first having the independent resources to provide for them - and specifically in cases like this where there is no natural pregnancy ie: a person who seeks to become pregnant by artificial means and then makes a determination to act on their wishes regardless of their ability to provide for the results of that pregnancy.
The question is not whether or not she is married. The question isn't related to religious values. It's a question put up against societal values and the value of life in regards to the majority and not the minority.
Shouldn't we question these things? If this were an Andrea Yates type of scenario and the woman had severe post partum psychosis previous to implantation and nobody uttered a word or a concern and the results were the same as in the Yates case - do we accept any responsibility if we say nothing? I personally would rather have people screened and regulated before these procedures are done because I would rather one woman be declined IVF if it meant her kids weren't victims of violence and death later. I'm not saying that this woman is in the same position - I am questioning the ethics over the process overall if we know that death or disability occurs in over 50% of these cases and what part we all play if we don't question.
This woman was on disability for a back problem and yet purposely got herself pregnant 6 times while on funds for that. It does raise questions and for those on disability who have to fight for any help, I can assure you they are cringing and angry. So should society have a say in women being ALLOWED to have 14 children without a job and while on government disability funding or other government funds? Most certainly since those programs are set up and paid for collectively by society to assist those who need it. sammieswife.