Octuplet Mom Sends Misleading Message About Infertility Treatment

By Stephanie Hoey
MSNBC.com

Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman has brought the issue of infertility into the national spotlight. She gave birth to octuplets conceived via in vitro fertilization.

Her shocking story now has others concerned that she's sending a misleading message about the treatment of infertility.

In three weeks, Tiffany Smetak, of West Hartford, is due to give birth to her first child - conceived through IVF.

She says she’s feeling, "Oh gosh, very excited."

"I'm having a girl and I'm due Feb. 28, so ... very soon," she said.

Tiffany underwent IVF at the UConn Center for Advanced Reproductive Services in Farmington.

Very early on in the planning process, she and her doctor discussed the number of embryos that would be transferred in her uterus, she said.

"They're very strict,” she said.

"I tell patients up front the one thing we're going to discuss today is how many embryos you want to put back. Your options are one or two, said Dr. Claudio Benadiva, Tiffany's doctor and the director of the IVF laboratory.

One of the controversies brewing about the octuplet story is the number of embryos transferred into Suleman, a 33-year-old single mom - six, she told NBC's Ann Curry.

Benadiva's reaction to the octuplet story:

"At first, I couldn't believe it because I never thought any serious IVF clinic in this country would transfer that many embryos to a patient that age," he said. Read the entire story...