January 31, 2009

Paging Dr. Malthus: Insolvent Iraqi immigrant's 8 illegitimate infants

UPDATE: This octuplets story really puts the capstone on the Bush years. It's beyond the powers of parody. It's got everything that made the Bush Years the Bush Years: Iraqis, immigrants, illegitimacy, and insolvency.

The hospital is claiming it expects to spend $3.2 million on care for the eight babies.

A number of people have wondered how I can claim the unidentified woman is an Iraqi immigrant. From CBSNews:

"The grandfather, she adds, is apparently going to head back to his native Iraq to earn money for the growing family. He told CBS News he's a former Iraqi military man"

Iraqi military man ... those are the kind of genes we definitely want to see spreading at such a rapid rate! When we go to invade Iran in a few generations, our new soldiers will get about two miles across the border, then bog down for eight years.

By the way, here's my 2006 article on the LA illegal immigrant woman with six kids who had fertility treatments, but she only then had quadruplets, so she's a piker compared to this lady.

From the LA Times:

The family of octuplets born in Southern California this week has a history of financial problems, including a bankruptcy, tax liens and a foreclosure, according to court records.

The 33-year-old Whittier woman, who has not been publicly identified, gave birth to the octuplets at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Bellflower on Monday and already has six young children, including a set of twins, said her mother, Angela Suleman.

She lives with her parents in a 1,550-square-foot home in Whittier, where television trucks and camera crew continued to roam the quiet cul-de-sac Friday. This afternoon, the children's grandfather returned to the home with four toddlers and did not speak to the throng of media, other than to ask for privacy.

Last March, Suleman filed bankruptcy, claiming nearly $1 million in liabilities — mostly because of a bad house investment, her attorney said. Countrywide Home Loans approved a $492,000 mortgage for Suleman in 2006 for a second home she bought in Whittier for $615,000. In 2008, the bank began foreclosure procedures. The house was sold in August for $369,375.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, Suleman said her daughter did not expect to have octuplets, but that all the implanted embryos "happened to take."

She acknowledge that supporting a family with 14 children would be difficult, but that her daughter felt like she had little choice.

"What do you suggest she should have done?" Suleman said. "She refused to have them killed."

To help support the family, the woman's father works in Iraq as a contractor, where he earns at least $100,000 annually.

Fertility experts, including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, have raised concerns about the number of embryos implanted and whether it was within medical guidelines.

"I cannot see circumstances where any reasonable physician would transfer eight embryos into a woman under the age of 35 under any circumstance," said Arthur Wisot, a fertility doctor in Redondo Beach. "I cannot imagine that any of the mainstream practices in the Los Angeles area were involved in this. I would guess — and it's a pure guess — that she either went out of the country or went to a practice that flies below the radar."

The California Medical Board, which investigates doctors, and the California Department of Public Health Services, which licenses clinics and hospitals, said no doctors or facilities are currently being investigated regarding the births. A spokesman for the state health agency said there is no indication the implantations occurred at a facility they license.

For much more on the Octuplet Family, see my update "Who Are These People?"

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

How much will the government be paying her in welfare?

Anonymous said...

Man, what a complete social breakdown this story represents. 'It works on so many levels...'

Steve, do you ever stare at the ceiling while lying in bed and give thanks that California is still part of United States, and not out there on its own? We are continually reminded that Cali has the 6th largest economy in el mundo, after all. But, if CA were its own country, it would have long ago descended into a state of chaos like...uh...Parador.

Anonymous said...

sounds like a screenplay. but iraq war refugees and their offspring? that's so bush years and so yesterday. the new war is coming fast steve. and the new war means a new refugee flow brought here to pursue the american dream in a more noble way than the natives ever could. pakistan iran and syria represent the axis of evil. our holy mission now is to finally vanquish the enemies of israel. and since our economy has been gutted it's the perfect time for a massive false flag operation at home and then a huge ground war abroad. first the american boys come home in bodybags and then later the wartime civilian refugees stream into the united states to help fuel the permanent revolution. refugee mothers having octuplets? mission accomplished. diversity is strength. eighty languages spoken in a single school district? that is strength.

Anonymous said...

Some years ago a Boston TV reporter went to the door of a welfare mom with something like 9 kids who was getting fertility drugs under medicaid. Just before the door was slammed in the reporter's face, they asked the scofflaw what she had to say to taxpayers supporting her lifestyle:

"KEEP ON PAYING"

Anonymous said...

Whittier? - Isn't that Tricky Dickie's old stomping ground?
Well the old jowly swine must be rolling in his grave!

Anonymous said...

"This octuplets story really puts the capstone on the Bush years."

Ahh, the Bush years, or, "The Sailer Told You So Decade."

Anonymous said...

Any direct welfare benefits she receives will be peanuts compared to the medical costs for those kids for the next eighteen years.

Anonymous said...

With "diversity" it's quantity not quality that matters -- you're forgetting that.

Anonymous said...

It's got everything that made the Bush Years the Bush Years: Iraqis, immigrants, illegitimacy, and insolvency.

In typical right-wing fashion, Steve omits the most relevant of all of Bush's silly policies: oppositon to abortion.

Anonymous said...

I don't see where it says they are Iraqi immigrants. The woman's father is working as a contractor in Iraq, but that's different.

Peter

Unknown said...

She probably has refugee status too. If I am not mistaken that makes her exempt from certain restrictions on benefits that apply to citizens.

Unknown said...

She probably has refugee status too. If I am not mistaken that exempts here from restrictions that apply to citizens.

Anonymous said...

Send the bill directly to Bush.

Anonymous said...

Her mother filed for bankruptcy only last year, and listed the IRS as one of her "creditors." Now unless the IRS has started a loan department that means this family hasn't even been paying taxes. Nice.

Anonymous said...

So, finally, we know who this mystery woman is? By the time this story had reached the second news day, and the mother was still being referred to as "the woman," with no name given, I knew that something was afoot. I suspected illegitimacy, but could not have imagined SIX priors! Even I was not that cynical.

By the third news day, I kept wondering where was that conventional photo of the smiling, happy couple. By then, I had no doubt about what was really going on. Given that the woman is a weird kook, what the hell excuse does her parents have? If they are Muslims, isn't such behavior completely out of the question? Isn't she supposed to be stoned to death, even after the first illegitimate kid? Or, perhaps, they're good Christians! That would explain it.
-- Victoria

Anonymous said...

Given that the woman is an Iraqi rather than a Mexican; will the MSM, U.S. political big shots, California's state university system, an Iraqi version of MALDEF, an Iraqi version of LaRaza, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Catholic church rush to the front in order to protect the sanctity of her parasitism?

Anonymous said...

Too bad print journalism is on the way out. You would be a gifted headline writer.

Anonymous said...

I am Lugash.

Are they actually Iraqis? The only tie to Iraq is that Grandpa is working as a contractor in Iraq. Grandma's last name of "Suleman" could maybe be some derivation of "Suleiman" the Magnificent.

I am Lugash.

Anonymous said...

"I cannot see circumstances where any reasonable physician would transfer eight embryos into a woman under the age of 35 under any circumstance," said Arthur Wisot, a fertility doctor in Redondo Beach. "I cannot imagine that any of the mainstream practices in the Los Angeles area were involved in this. I would guess — and it's a pure guess — that she either went out of the country or went to a practice that flies below the radar."

She probably lives near her fellow Iraqi immigrants, one of whom may be a doctor. The doctor's comment begs the question: would he implant 8 embryos in a woman over 35?

SAVANT said...

where does it say she's an Iraqi immigrant?

Anonymous said...

Its depressing to know childless couples who've struggled for years for a child, and then when they wish to adopt, must first qualify as good parents with Protective Services by going through the adoption home study process.
http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_homstu.cfm

Meanwhile a 16 year old welfare
moms can raie a child with the sole qualification of somehow convincing a male to have sex with her. This chick didn't even qualify under that rather lax standard.

This would be a better world if you needed a parenting license before you could raise kids. I suppose you could combine it with the marriage license requirements to quickly check off future married parents and to allow Protective Services could focus on trainwrecks like this.

If an unwed mother doesn't pass the home study process, the kid would be better off being raised by a gay couple that did. At the very least, Protective Services could mandate that a home visit nurse come by weekly.
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2000/B/200001628.html

Steve Sailer said...

Are they Iraqi?

Besides being named "Suleman," CBSNews says:

"The grandfather, she adds, is apparently going to head back to his native Iraq to earn money for the growing family. He told CBS News he's a former Iraqi military man"

Anonymous said...

Steve, you should know better than to base a post on statistical outliers.

The problem is not, as Malthus wrongly assumed, population growth (he admitted he was in fact, wrong, later in life). Nor is the problem being a few women having 8 or 14 kids. Nor is the problem a mass immigration of Iraqi military men to the US.

The problem is that we are declining in population growth (or indeed, in absolute numbers) of native-born and fully culturally/ethnically assimilated Americans. Just as Europe is. TFR rates for Italian, Spanish, and White American women probably all hover around 1.1 or so, which means we have half the people born every generation as before.

On the other side, we find mass immigration from Mexico, and children not 8 or 14 but rather 4 or 5, and the children because Mexico is so close and culturally dominant, failing to assimilate.

It's radically different than the Texas experience in the 19th Century, because then Mexico City was far away, media was non-existent, and Mexicans quickly assimilated into Anglo norms, while retaining religion and some cultural characteristics, the way that Catholic Germans did in Pannsylvania in Franklin's time or the Irish did in the latter part of the 19th Century.

No, anona, Israel other than soaking up attacks from Jihadis first does not matter the least in what will happen to the US. Blame the Jews is a Barack Obama specialty, with the appointment of "Let's Invade Israel to install Hamas" Samantha Power as the well, real power in the area of Foreign Policy (run out of the White House not State Dept.).

Surely you did not miss Obama's desire to cut the Military 11% to pay for all those condoms (330 million and counting) at a time when North Korea is proliferating like crazy (Syria), Pakistan has 100 plus nukes and growing, and Iran is breaking out nuclear-wise.

The danger is not Iran or Pakistan as a state attacking us, but handing the nukes off, officially, un-officially, or having them borrowed as their states are factionalized, corrupt, tribally oriented, and basically factions with flags and tribes and nukes. It's never about us, always about them, and who ever can nuke the US will get a tremendous amount of men, money, and power flowing to them. No doubt Obama will apologize for making them mad, and get his ass impeached, but that's no help to either the 5-10 million American dead and the genie out of the bottle -- the idea that you can nuke the US with impunity.

Whoever or whatever faction nukes the US (or an ally like Denmark or France or the UK) first will stimulate other groups doing it too, creating a race between attackers leveraging container shipping and nuclear proliferation and deterrence, creating eventually the need to deter by say, nuking out of existence half the world's Muslims for sheer survival.

Nuclear proliferation and weak will guarantees this. If you accept nuclear proliferation you have to make everyone afraid ouf what you will do to stay aafe.

We are like a clueless yuppie hiking in the Mojave Desert. Rational, sensible things to prevent sheer survival situations, like carying plenty of water, staying on the trail, backup GPS, compass, maps, (batteries fail), surival gear, creates the kind of desperation that "Survivorman" and Bear Grylls depict on TV. This has nothing tod with Israel (other than a useful example of what happens when enemies no longer fear you and they have nukes).

As a side-note, both Iran and Pakistan have lots of leaders who boast that their demographic superiority allow them to take lots of nukes from the US and still nuke us out of existence, both Ahmadinejad and th leaders of LeT have made that boast

Anonymous said...

Well if you are going to have multiple kids at one time that you can't afford, you might as well have A LOT - like 5 or more. That way, you can sell yourself out for a reality TV show and endorsements. Nobody cares about triplets, that's not exciting in this day and age of fertility drugs. Problem is I don't know if this woman is mentally sane - Might not be good in front of cameras!

Anonymous said...

The first name "Angela" suggests either major assimilation or that they're Iraqi Christians. And given what an endangered minority they are, perhaps this family should be saluted for helping replenish the population from one uterus!

rec1man said...

This is part of the islamic
master plan to takeover by demographics

rec1man said...

As a side-note, both Iran and Pakistan have lots of leaders who boast that their demographic superiority allow them to take lots of nukes from the US and still nuke us out of existence, both Ahmadinejad and th leaders of LeT have made that boast
--

Actually, 75% of pakistan is desert
and 75% of pakistan lives in a very compact area in west punjab
and most of the rest in karachi

Yes, it is possible to guarantee that every single pakistani can be nuked out of existence

The more scary thing is that LET has terrorist training camps in the USA

Anonymous said...

I agree completely testing99, but I believe we're screwed.

Anonymous said...

"Octuplets’ mother wants Oprah to turn her into a $2m TV star"

"THE single mother of octuplets born in California last week is seeking $2m (£1.37m) from media interviews and commercial sponsorship to help pay the cost of raising the children.

Nadya Suleman, 33, plans a career as a television childcare expert after it emerged last week that she already had six children before giving birth on Monday. She now has 14 below the age of eight.

Although still confined to an LA hospital bed, she intends to talk to two influential television hosts this week — media mogul Oprah Winfrey, and Diane Sawyer, who presents Good Morning America."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5627531.ece

Seems she's just trying to live the American (well, Western) dream.

Unknown said...

"have raised concerns about the number"

How I love the phrase, "raised concerns"! It says so much....what it really means is, what the fuck have we gotten ourselves into? How will we survive this total and complete ballsup with any degree of solvency is completely beyond me.

Concerns, concerns.

Anonymous said...

"You got to give Mr. Gutierrez credit for having the brains to bail out before the craziness got a full head of steam."

Those were my thoughts exactly! Smart, lucky guy!

-- Victoria

Anonymous said...

WELCOME TO THE MATRIARCHY.

Now kiss your ass goodbye because matriarchies collapse.

Anonymous said...

Airtommy,
how would have legalizing abortion have changed this situation?
Women with six children who get fertility treatment for eight more don't tend to have abortions.

Anonymous said...

"In typical right-wing fashion, Steve omits the most relevant of all of Bush's silly policies: oppositon to abortion."

Please let us know where abortion has been banned because of Bush.