Were Angelina's Twins the Result of In Vitro Fertilization?
Friday July 25, 2008
Celebrity parents Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt welcomed twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline on July 12. Now US Weekly magazine is reporting that the pregnancy was the result of in vitro fertilization in an attempt to grow their family more quickly. According to the magazine article, Angelina Jolie sought IVF so "she wouldn't have to deal with the stress of trying to get pregnant." Brad and Angelina are the parents of four other children, including a biological child born in May 2006. A reproductive specialist quoted in the article claims that Jolie's chances of conceiving fraternal twins naturally on her own is under 1%, but that in vitro raised the odds to 25%.
What is IVF?
In vitro (or IVF) is a form of assisted reproduction. First, a mother is given drugs to stimulate her ovaries. Then oocytes (eggs) are retrieved from her ovaries and combined in a laboratory with sperm obtained from the father. The resulting embryo -- or embryos -- are then transferred to the mother's uterus to implant and develop according to the normal process of pregnancy. For some couples, it may take several attempts over the course of many months to achieve a viable pregnancy.
IVF procedures have been a source of controversy, specifically because of the high rate of multiple pregnancies that result. Often, doctors would implant multiple embryos in an effort to improve the odds of a successful pregnancy. Professional guidelines (and, in some cases, legislation) as well as technological improvements have reduced the number of multiple birth outcomes. IVF is also very expensive, costing parents thousands of dollars a month. IVF is generally the treatment of choice for infertile couples who can not conceive because the mother has physical issues that prevent ovulation or the father has a low sperm count.
What do you think?
What do you think about this situation? Is it right to seek reproductive assistance simply because you're in a hurry to get pregnant, as the article implies? Is it ethical for doctors to offer the treatment to anyone who can pay for it, rather than reserving it for parents who have medical conditions that prevent unassisted conception? Does it change how you feel about the celebrity twins? Is it really anyone's business how the babies were conceived? Please click on comments to share your thoughts.
More Resources:
What is IVF?
In vitro (or IVF) is a form of assisted reproduction. First, a mother is given drugs to stimulate her ovaries. Then oocytes (eggs) are retrieved from her ovaries and combined in a laboratory with sperm obtained from the father. The resulting embryo -- or embryos -- are then transferred to the mother's uterus to implant and develop according to the normal process of pregnancy. For some couples, it may take several attempts over the course of many months to achieve a viable pregnancy.
IVF procedures have been a source of controversy, specifically because of the high rate of multiple pregnancies that result. Often, doctors would implant multiple embryos in an effort to improve the odds of a successful pregnancy. Professional guidelines (and, in some cases, legislation) as well as technological improvements have reduced the number of multiple birth outcomes. IVF is also very expensive, costing parents thousands of dollars a month. IVF is generally the treatment of choice for infertile couples who can not conceive because the mother has physical issues that prevent ovulation or the father has a low sperm count.
What do you think?
What do you think about this situation? Is it right to seek reproductive assistance simply because you're in a hurry to get pregnant, as the article implies? Is it ethical for doctors to offer the treatment to anyone who can pay for it, rather than reserving it for parents who have medical conditions that prevent unassisted conception? Does it change how you feel about the celebrity twins? Is it really anyone's business how the babies were conceived? Please click on comments to share your thoughts.
More Resources:
While I don’t think it is anyone’s business how the Jolie-Pitts conceived, if they did use IVF in an effort to speed the process up, then I think that was wrong. But, that’s just my opinion. There are lots of other medical procedures that are done for pure vanity. If you can afford plastic surgery, why not IVF? It may turn out to be the next Hollywood craze, who knows?
I’m not into celebrity news, but I think IVF is fine for those with fertility problems who want a child or two. I have heard of other cases, however, of couples who already have several children using IVF to add another child. Why not use the money that they would have spent on IVF to adopt a child who is already born and needs a home? However, under our current health care situation, if you can pay for it, you can pretty much get it. Also, the Jolie-Pitts have devoted a lot of time and money to philanthropic work.
I always wonder how many celebrity parents actually “raise” their children. It seems they’re always too busy and rely on nannies or other caretakers. If that’s true for Jolie/Pitts, then to me it seems a bit like a baby mill procedure. Quick, make a family so someone else can take care of it.
I admire that they have adopted children. Why didn’t they just adopt more instead of forcing nature?
It’s definitely an interesting debate. I don’t know enough of the specifics, but if people are using IVF to increase the odds of having multiples, I’m a bit taken aback. It seems an awfully invasive choice to me rather than letting nature take its course, but I can also appreciate starting a biological family later in the game (as a woman).
I think it is wonderful.
i think its funny how the only comments we see so far about their family and their children are from angelina. i knew it, i knew it… i knew it all along that she got fertility treatments. dont ask me how. i just had my suspicions. just like i also have my suspicions that whatever angelina wants, angelina gets. after all people, lets not forget that she was a home-wrecker. pregnant with shiloh before they even got married. why do we idolize people like that? now all of a sudden, she’s in the news as being a miss wonderful and we should all admire her and brad. you have got to be kidding. having a child is first of all-what? a blessing from god? so she doesnt want to go thru the stress of trying to get pregnant and forces it unnaturally? does god close doors and open others? 30 yrs ago when i was told how difficult a pregnancy would be because i am a type 1 diabetic, i felt like i wanted to die. before i was diagnosed, i had always dreamed of marrying the right guy and having a large family. then diabetes took that dream away and i accepted the fact that i wasnt going to have any children. until 20 yrs later i met my husband but we lost our first child to downs syndrome. it took 3 yrs for me to get over that. just as we were about to adopt, i found out i was pregnant again and we now have a beautiful daughter who is smarter and heathier and more beautiful than the 2 of us put together. talk about stress, angelina listen to me- i woke up at 2am every morning to take my first insulin injection and then throughout the day took the rest of my 8 injections and tested blood sugars also 8-12x a day. not only did i hurt after so many but my arms swelled so much people thought i was lifting weights and working out. oh brother. then to make things more complicated (and oh yes- stressful angelina), my dosage changed every 3 days in those 9 long months. not to mention the prenatal vitamin and 4 folic acid pills a day, had to have ultrasounds 2x a week, had to eat 6 small meals a day (at exactly the same time!!!!!!!!) for 9 months, kept a journal of everything i ate for 9 months, and then as a reward, i almost died…twice… once at 13 wks and once at 20 wks because of extremely low sugars. i dont understand how god and faith are supposed to work sometimes. i dont understand why i only have one child instead of the 10 that i wanted. i can no longer afford to adopt. but i have one child. and she is the world to me. she is also worth everything i fucking went thru to have her. she is the ultimate miracle child. are we really supposed to look at these brangelina twins as gifts from god or products of a selfish woman? give me a fucking break. how did she fly to france at eight months pregnant carrying twins? and why would she risk it? because angelina gets what angelina wants. mark my words. poor brad. she has him in her claws now. and he will be her idiot simply because she is beautiful.
Well, Jolie and Pitt can afford to have pretty much any medical procedures they wish, and it is their money, so from that perspective it is not that big a deal to me. On the other hand, it seems a bit, well, selfish to completely plan a pregnancy in this way. To the average reader it might just seem that babies are a convenience, something you can order and buy, if you can afford to perfectly time every pregnancy via IVF. That, to me, is a big step on the road to dehumanizing unborn children and babies, a step to be avoided at all costs.
I was shocked when I heard about the in vitro thing. Has it given anyone else pause to think what is her compulsion to have these children? It seems like she gets a hold of one and before she barely gets to know them, she’s searching desperately to add to her collection–excuse me–family. Does she want to experience motherhood from every angle? She has adopted, given birth after getting pregnant naturally, and now wanting to pick out a pair of babies and have them implanted in her to experience that too? And what is it about her hightailing it out of the US before–God forbid–she gives birth? Is she trying to be the poster child for the UN/CFR dream family? You know–where utopia is a world without borders; just like Angelina’s ever-expanding brood…
Stress of trying to get pregnant??? Isn’t that the fun part? Trying to get pregnant with Brad Pitt…… hmmmm….. doesn’t sound very stressful to me. Sounds divine!!
I went almost 10 years without having a baby due to numerous miscarriages and was soooo thankful when the doctors figured out what they could do to help me. Progesterone was our miracle drug..Anyway, after having 2 daughters, I was lucky enough to get pregnant with twins…almost lost one of them. So needless to say, I am soooo thankful for my children..but we did all the work basically ourselves…I feel that was God’s plan for us. Those that feel they need to in vitro have their numerous reasons…but just to speed up the process seems just a little bit selfish to me. I worked very hard at doing everything just right to get my precious angels, but I know that if it didn’t happen, then that was what was supposed to be…all part of God’s plan…I don’t think in vitro was part of the plan????
To be honest, none of these comments seem to be from someone who had to deal with infertility or underwent IVF. For us personally, it was the only way to conceive. It is neither easy nor guaranteed that (1) you will successfully produce viable eggs, (2) that your embryos will survive to day 3 (for implantation or freezing) (3) that an embryo will implant (4) that one will be able to maintain a successful pregnancy.
It doesn’t matter one bit if they used IVF to conceive. It is absolutely none of our business. I would like to point out that it is an unsubstantiated RUMOR that if they did use IVF that it was for a matter of convenience rather than due to an undisclosed medical condition.
I would also like to point out that in order for Angelina to undergo an IVF procedure, she would require numerous medical appts over at least two months – some daily towards the end. Multiple blood tests, ultrasounds, daily injections, numerous medical procedures, not to mention, Brad having to go and make a ‘deposit’. Don’t you think that with the amount of media scrutiny that they undergo on a daily basis that there would have been some wiff beforehand?
Even if the rumor that the twins were conceived via IFV is true, it is simply ridiculous to assume that the opinion of an unsubstantiated source could lend even the least insight into the reason. We do not know the couple. We simply have no way of knowing. They could have tried to get pregnant for a long-ish, or a very short time, they could have decided for reasons of career, convenience, timing, selfishness, whatever, that they could afford to do this electively, and so would. Unless we meet them and they choose to tell us, we will never know. Isn’t it a waste of time and energy to judge, dissect and analyze something we literally know nothing about?
seriously, it’s none of our business. I truly believe that if they care for and love their children, which it seems they do, then nobody has any right to say anything about how they were conceived. I wouldn’t want somebody saying stuff about us because our twins were conceived through IVF – they are every bit as special and loved as any other child… Even IVF is not a guarantee – these babies are meant to be, that’s all that matters.
If in fact she did use IVF to conceive I think it’s appalling. She really must have serious control issues to have that great of a desire to control the age, sex, race, etc.. of each child. I also have to say I am so sick of all the Angelina Supermom BS! It is insulting to real mothers and I am sure these types of statements about her make many moms feel inadequate. She has multiple nannies. I seriously doubt the woman has ever had her sleep interrupted to console a fussy child.
IVF is not a fun thing to go thru and medical info should be private, it is none of our business how hers or anyone elses kids were conceived.
I agree that it’s none of our business. The report seems a bit off to me, anyway. From what I’ve heard from friends who’ve had IVF, it isn’t exactly stress-free.
Why is this anyone’s business in the first place? NObody cares how my husband and I conceived our children. Nobody cares how any of you conceived your kids, so why should we care about how somebody else did? Isn’t the conception of a child or children supposed to be a private matter?
If we have to get this upset over other peoples’ private lives, we really have to re-examine our own. Don’t those of you who seem so angry have anything to be thankful for?
Why can’t we each be thankful for what we have? Why do we have to throw stones at others? For goodness sake, Let them be.
Can’t say I’m surprised. I wonder how many other celebrities are doing this? I have noticed how many of them are popping out twins and thought it kind of strange. Part of me doesn’t care. I’m tired of all the celebrity hype. Like all the celebrity children are the “most beautiful” in the world? What is that about? Just because the parents make millions doing nothing their children are more wonderful than the children of us mere human beings? Anyway, with all the people that really need help conceiving it seems to me a shame to use it just for your own vanity, so you can have multiples. Is it the in thing to do now? And I agree, why not adopt more needy children? Just one more example of how spoiled these celebrities are.
I had IVF to conceive my twins due to issues with my husband. I do not think it is anyone else’s business how Angelina conceived and it doesn’t matter anyway. However, there is a mean part of me who thinks it is a bit unfair that they are financially able to adopt, already have their own natural child and yet they still did IVF to have a 6th child. If she truly suffered through infertility and wants to save children, perhaps they should make a large donation to help women who can’t afford IVF or adoption. There are probably tons of infertile women who read that story and were upset by it. They’d be happy to have even one child.
I’m swimming in both sides with this one… The part of me that struggled with infertility and knows how god awfully expensive IVF is want’s to scream. We could only afford to do the procedure once, and when it didn’t work I was devistated. But, after 13 years we conceived naturally(twins), we were lucky. But realistically speaking it is no diffrent than cosmetic plastic surgery, one could argue the fact that many people under go plastic surgery for sheer vanity, and so many others that cannot afford and would really benefit from it (cancer patients, fire victims, etc.). It’s a service available for whomever can pay for it… It just seems to me with so many infertile couples out there, it should be a little more accesible to us regular folks.
Why the hell does it matter to anybody how Angelina and Brad had there children. Your not raising them or providing for them. Why does it even matter if they had an IVF either. What they do to have children is between them two. It’s none of our damn business. I hear people talking about it’s wrong and there just wasting there money. The way I see it those people are full of bullshit. Just cause they can’t afford to do it themselves they gotta talk down on somebody else. I hate when people say “If I had as much money as them I wouldn’t do it” oh thats a bunch of horse shit cause if you had money like them you would be just as they are. And people say that your playing with fate and God. I believe in God myself and I see nothing wrong with that. Now I see God playing his part in choosing the sex you get between the twins if you get twins. But if it was up to God he would have never put doctors in this world to be smart enough to perform such a miracle. Besides if children are from God then why do people who don’t believe in God still have children. Why are children murdered and kidnapped everyday. Why are children given to parents who leave them in dumpsters and leave them to die sitting in 120 degree car for hours because a God loving person forgot about them. I believe in God but not everybody does. Now just cause you believe in certain things doesn’t mean everybody else does. So don’t make yourself superior to others and leave everybody else’s life out of yours and get your own. And remember “Don’t worry about plucking the stick out of your brother eyes when you need to worry about plucking the stick out of your own”. Love talkin with yall
Why should people who need IVF to conceive be expected to have one child and then adopt or to just adopt anyway.As an adoption social worker and someone who has had IVF to conceive I have real issues with that way of thinking. Adoption is not for everyone and just because you are infertile does not mean that you will be a good candidate for adoption. Personally I want a big family and I feel that I have the right to choose to have a big family whether that be through IVF or natural conception. Thankfully I can afford to have as many IVF cycles as I need to get that family. Despite my wish to have a large family I know that adoption is not for me. I also know that my feelings about adoption would put any child I adopted at a disadvantage. Why is it that the general public sees infertile couples as a source of charity. We are no different to any other couple. It’s like suggesting that every couple who have one child should adopt if they want another. I’m sorry but I just don’t get it.