Octomama, My dicontent with Jon and Kate plus 8, and reproductive technology: All in one post

Ok, well.... I didn't even think I was going to weigh in on the Octuplet mama, but CHunk's asked my thoughts, and I thought I might as well spill them here. And, since my darling wife told me tonight that everything on my blog is negative, well, why change gears now?
Anyway, octuplet mama - what else can be said? I mean, obviously, bitch is one troubled woman, and those poor kids are marked for like. You remember the saying, if it's not one thing, it's your mother?" Well, those kids will know that for a fact. But you know, as clear as the issue appears, there are some things that complicate it. So yeah, ain't no fucking way that this woman can be a good mother, because she just has babies for shits and giggles. And no doctor should have allowed her to be implanted with babies. It's a no-brainer that this is a cut and dried ethical issue, isn't it? Well yes. For me it is. But it raises larger questions, because then does that mean people have to have a certain income, or a certain marital status, or whatever, to use reproductive technology? Did anyone stop Jon and Kate from in vitro? WHo has the say as to who can and who can't get implanted? And yes, I know that she shouldn't have been, but what are the hard and fast rules as to who is eligible for these procedures? It's a murky ground if you refuse someone. For example, you know I would rather be the meat in a Rita Macneill/Anne Murray sandwich, with Rene Simard looking on eating poutine than ever cast a vote for the Conservatives. But, what if someone said "Oh, you are a Conservative, so you can't be implanted with your babies?" Stupid example, but you know what I mean - who decides who can and can't be a parent when we have this technology? I don't want to see any fetuses destined for conservative families, but as Sedaris says, "you can't kill the rooster". So, what I am trying to say is that I am disgusted by octo-mama, and disgusted that the doctors let this happen, but at the same time, I don't know if they could have stopped it, because then reproduction becomes policed. I just don't know. It's like abortion. Personally (and spare me the debate, I said personally, so believe whatever the hell you want), I just don't "believe" in abortion. This doesn't mean I am pro-life. Not by a long-shot. What I mean is, I couldn't live with myself knowing that a fetus of mine was aborted. Maybe its from having 4 kids, I dunno. But to me it is cut and dried that at conception, a life is formed. It may be a clump of cells, but that clump of cells is alive. But while I believe that life begins at conception, I also am pro-choice. I don't think anyone should have the power to tell a woman that she will have to carry a child. I am opposed to 2nd trimester and late term abortions, but I still think that if a woman is pregnant and doesn't want to be, she has that first trimester to not be. I hope she would choose otherwise, because, as I said, a life brings so much possibility, but it's not for me to play reproductive God. Likewise, as much as I am disgusted at octomother and her doctors, can we morally stop them? What if someone said "overweight near-40 year olds shouldn't have kids?" What would I do then? And that sleazy bastard, Dr. Phil, must be paying her millions to put her through the wringer. Hell, I don't believe Dr. Phil should be on tv, or that his wife should have been brought to life from cardboard, but nobody stopped that Frankenstein experiment, so again, we can't play God.
And this leads to my annoyance of Jon and Kate. I know Chunks wants to go live with them in the pinefields of Penn., but let me tell you my problem - it's not even with them, really, but TLC. I've mentioned my saddness about Little People, Big WOlrd here before, about them just being TLC puppets for the $$$. It's the same with Jon and Kate. So they ended up with a gaggle of children, sort of by accident, and they get a tv show, which helps them because they are struggling. So I thought "well good for you." But the show has gone from these struggling parents to some sort of Hollywood production. They have moved from their hovel to this fucking mansion in the country, nobody has to work, everything is new, the kids are better dressed than fucking Iman, they are travelling everywhere for free, and this was the icing on the cake: The other night, it was all "I am just waiting for the new washers and dryers to arrive", and then they do arrive. And Jon and Kate both spend 15 minutes going on and ON about "I love the Whirlpool Duets. They hold 47 towels and blah blah blah." Seriously, they said "Whirlpool Duet" repeatedly, showed them in the box, out of the box, installed, being loaded, and then after the fact, when they interview them in the basement, it's all "the duet really made life easy because 300 pairs of jeans fit into it." Then they finally break to commercial.... for the Duet.
I just felt so dirty, both for them, and for me having to watch it. Now, you know me. I'm a whore too. You give me something, I'll plug it on the blog. Hell, give me some fucking SUn-Rype juice coupons, and I'll tell you about how I bathed in the fucking apricot nectar and my b'acne disappeared (I don't have b'acne, but for free juice, I'll lie).
Now, maybe it's just sour grapes on my part. But you know, I have 4 kids, the old fashioned way. Luckily, everything in the reproductive systems of Rachel and myself work wonderfully, and I just have to sort of wag it in her direction and 9 months later we have a child. But we didn't get 4 kids because more embryos survived than what was thought, or they split. No, we have 4 kids because we wanted 4 kids. We make great babies and our kids have enriched our lives in ways we never thought possible. And they've made us better people, and I hope that we are lavishing them in love and understanding and giving them what is important. But we aren't "collecting" kids like octo-mama. And while i am glad that Jon and Kate have the means now to provide for these kids, I am resentful. SOrry, it's my negative nature. We willingly chose 4 kids, but is anyone giving us a break? No. We work our asses off to provide for them. We spend every waking moment picking up and cleaning and cooking and doing laundry and whatever to keep up with things, because we are anal that way. Rachel has to go back to work in the fall. We'd do anything to have her stay at home, but then we wouldn't be able to provide for the kids. Kate doesn't have to go back to work, and she has 8 kids..... we'd love a house with a 4th bedroom upstairs, so we could always stay on the same level. Kate has a new mansion. I'd like to have an old, used tent trailer to take the kids camping in the summers. Jon has acres of wilderness now for the kids to explore. We are literally taking our bottles in to stash $$ away in our vacation fund so the kids could perhaps see the ocean someday. All they talk about is Disney and Hawaii. Jon and Kate have been there with their kids, in luxury suites. We are counting dimes to someday buy a used Durango for driving in town, since the kids can't all fit in the car (when the other parent has the van). Jon and Kate ain't worrying about that. Finally, the WHIRLPOOL DUET. Jon and Kate have a handful of them. I have a 6 year old Maytag Neptune, which works fine, but isn't as big as the Duet, nor does it have any of the cool features. We do, I dunno, 10 loads of wash a week? 15? At least? I'd love a Duet or two. I'd tell all my friends about it. But nobody will give us one because we are boring parents with single births. Sure, 4 kids seems freakish to people, but not like multiples. Multiples are freakish, but in a good way. People just assume we are Catholic and move on. But someone has a multiple birth, and fuck, lets shower them with frankensense and myhrr. I spelled that wrong, but the hell with spellcheck. Perhaps if I had a new Toshiba Satellite, with their bang -on spell check, I would, but Toshiba must be saving that shit for Jon and Kate. So yeah, I struggle to make ends meet, I get no downtime until 11 at night, and nothing is a free ride. And I know I am entitled to nothing. But when I see JOn and Kate and Octomama having everything because they sold their story, it annoys me, because nobody wants my story. We're boring. Ah well, whatever, I love my babies and wouldn't be who I am without them, so let them all have whatever. Good for you, multiple peoples.... I'll take my singles and love them, without big washers, fancy trips, or a big house.
Seacrest Out.