Octuplet mom vs. the planet

I hadn't planned to write about the California woman who recently gave birth to octuplets, even after she already had six other children at home. It seems weird. It seems eccentric. But it's her business, not mine.

Just as I will defend a woman's choice against giving birth, I will also defend a woman's choice to give birth to one or more children.

But 14?!

In my grandparents' day, it wasn't unusual to see large families with 6 or 7 children or more. But these days, it seems at best impractical. Most families need two working parents to make ends meet, which discourages excessively large families.

And now we are aware of another very big consideration: the survival of our planet.

We have become more aware of our carbon footprints and the need to conserve our resources. In fact, two Yale economists recently went so far as to estimate the lifetime cost to society of each person in terms of impact on living standards and the environment. Costs range from more than $100,000 per person in high-income countries to about $2,500 per person in the lowest-income countries.

But I prefer not to think of the issue in terms of financial costs. I prefer to think of it in more tangible terms -- the impact each of these children will have over the course of their lifetimes on issues such as carbon emissions, water deficits, food shortages, etc., even here in the so-called richest country on earth.

Think of all the diapers that will today end up in landfills. Think of all the resources that this brood will consume and destroy over the course of their 16 lifetimes.

Now imagine that every household in America felt the same as Nadya Suleman and had 14 children. Think of the negative effects on resources and overcrowding.

With all things considered, Ms. Suleman's decision to give birth to 14 children was not only selfish -- it was reckless and irresponsible.