Uncertainties, , And Reaffirming Joy In A Big Family Way Mccaugheys Remind Us Of The Mystery And Grace Surrounding Pregnancy And Birth.

Let us pause for a moment to relish the miracle of the Iowa septuplets. Bobbi McCaughey, the mother, suffered from infertility. She took infertility drugs and they worked, and then worked some more. That was the first miracle.

The second miracle: The couple kept the secret. They didn’t search out media money or attention while pregnant. The biggest miracle of all: The children were born healthy.

As the children age, more miracles will follow. Less flamboyant miracles perhaps, but wonderful just the same. The family will need help; seven babies are labor intensive. Perhaps neighbors, church members and relatives will volunteer for active duty and have the privilege of participating in the nurturing of the miraculous seven.

The McCaughey family will be a big one. Their table at holidays will always be full. What a gift in these times of tiny families. Their children will grow up with aunts and uncles and cousins, and all the messy family relationships that give families history, depth and great stories to tell at reunions.

Unfortunately, the media and others spent precious little time on the miracle of the septuplets. A dozen diapers hadn’t even been dirtied before the dark-side questions emerged. How will the parents pay for them? Is fertility treatment out of control? Do we need regulations to curb it? These seven are healthy but what about those “multiples” who are not?

The state of fertility in our country right now can only be described as bizarre. Some women pine for babies while others dump theirs in the trash. Some women find themselves pregnant despite stringent adherence to birth control, and other women pay tens of thousands of dollars for high-tech fertility treatments that lead nowhere. Of course an infertility treatment industry would arise from this chaos. And abuses will happen.

But the McCaughey septuplets remind us of the mystery and grace surrounding pregnancy and birth. They remind us that infertility, childbearing and adoption are very personal choices and no one else’s business, really.

Most of all, the septuplets demonstrate that life makes its way into our world, despite every obstacle in the way. That’s worth celebrating, no buts about it.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see “Time to consider limits for litters”

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, EDITORIAL - From both sides CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi/For the editorial board