Eight is more than enough

The topic of the "Octomom" in California is just too juicy to pass up. It's almost as if this whole situation arose just to provide fodder for online commentators. It's the proverbial slow pitch right over the middle of the plate, just ready to be hit out of the park.

For anyone who might have been living in a cave the past month, the "Octomom" is a 30-something-year-old woman who recently bore eight children. The children were conceived in vitro. The woman has six other children, all under the age of 7. She is divorced and unemployed.

Let the insanity begin!

The only question is, where to start?

A Feb. 17 news report cited a $1.5 million cost so far - paid by California taxpayers - to care for the eight children, all still in the hospital. Given that children of such huge multiple births often have lifelong health issues, we can presume that the public tab will keep growing.

The mother already receives disability and public assistance payments from the state for at least two of her other children. Cha-ching! The public subsidy for her family grows further.

There is no father in the picture. This factor goes well beyond the mere need for many sets of hands (and hearts) to care for 14 children, eight of them infants. The bigger point is, in one fell swoop we have 14 children growing up without a male role model in their lives.

Children deserve to have a father. A male parent brings a whole different set of perceptions, interests and life activities to the table. A father teaches his kids how men conduct themselves in our society and interact with women.

This is not to say that all fathers are sterling examples of malehood. And, it's possible that the Octomom will get remarried down the road. However, speaking as a male, I'll attest that a woman with 14 children doesn't have a lot of appeal in the romance marketplace.

Let's be realistic - is it even remotely possible that a single mother can provide anywhere near the needed attention for each of these 14 kids? Children need a lot of individualized love and caring from a parent. This woman is going to be so overwhelmed that, while the kids might not suffer from what would be termed "neglect," they are likely to grow up remembering that Mom was always too busy to do anything one on one with them.

There's a million other points to be made. What in the world was in the mind of the doctor who implanted eight embryos in this woman? Why did this woman need more children when she already had six? What happens when her parents - who are apparently integral to the child rearing - pass on?

The public cost cannot be underestimated here. The woman insists that she will get a job using her degree in social work - uh, has she checked the pay scale for these type of positions? It's barely enough to support a small family, much less one bigger than the average dog litter. It's only a matter of time before we hear that this family is being fed on food stamps and donations. Oh, and did I mention the rapidly mounting public cost for the kids' health care?

In an interview on NBC, the mother claimed that she and her family will be OK because she will love all the kids so much. Well, in their song "I Got You Babe", Sonny and Cher lyricized "They say our love won't pay the rent, we won't know 'til our money's all been spent." That bit of advice was offered 40 years ago, and it still doesn't work.

Maybe you can't put a price tag on stupidity, but it appears that the Octomom is going to try. Too bad you, me and every other hard-working American will be literally paying for it.