15/8/97
The
triplet
boom:
Hard
to
conceive
There's
a
family
in
Petah
Tikva.
The
father's
unemployed
and
they're
on
welfare.
They
had
three
children
-
one
of
them
removed
to
a
boarding
school
because
of
suspected
child
abuse.
Not
a
model
family.
You
know
what
some
brilliant
doctor
did
for
them?
He
gave
them
fertility
drugs.
They
had
triplets.
Another
Israeli
couple:
he's
got
cerebral
palsy,
she's
disabled
from
myasthenia
gravis.
Hers
is
a
grim,
debilitating
muscle
disorder,
and
it's
hereditary.
They
were
struggling
along
with
a
nine-month-old
baby
when
her
gynecologist,
with
supreme
wisdom,
prescribed
fertility
drugs.
They
had
triplets.
A
young
Ra'anana
couple:
blessedly
fertile.
She
wanted
to
alter
her
cycle
for
religious
reasons.
ג€Here,
take
this,ג€
her
doctor
said.
He
gave
her
fertility
drugs.
Didn't
explain
what
it
was,
she
trusted
him
enough
not
to
ask.
They
had
triplets.
A
Jerusalem
mother:
Maybe
her
gynecologist
woke
up
stupid
that
morning;
he
did
not
bother
to
ask
some
very
basic
questions,
and
prescribed
treatment.
Mind
you,
he
was
not
unsuccessful:
She
did
ovulate.
Not
just
one
egg,
as
is
the
norm,
but
20
eggs.
What
the
hell,
he
figured,
let's
see
what
happens
if
I
implant
five
of
'em.
Triplets.
There's
been
an
explosion
of
technologically
engineered
multiple
births
in
this
country
-
and
throughout
the
Western
world
-
in
the
past
decade.
Well
over
500
Israeli
families
have
borne
children
in
bunches
of
three
or
more;
nature
accounts
for
about
one-seventh
of
such
births,
science
the
rest.
Israel
is
believed
to
have
the
world's
highest
per-capita
number
of
IVF
centers
producing
test-tube
babies;
one
city,
Bnei
Brak,
has
what
may
be
the
highest
rate
of
multiple
births
in
the
world.
There
are
at
least
60
such
families
there:
two
with
two
sets
of
triplets
each.
Many
experts
-
none
yet
in
Israel
-
have
come
to
realize
that
fertility
enhancement,
even
for
a
barren
couple
craving
a
baby,
is
a
multiple
predicament.
In
Britain,
and
a
growing
number
of
US
states,
it
is
now
illegal
to
implant
more
than
three
eggs
in
IVF
procedures,
chancing
that
maybe
one
or
two
might
take.
Some
experts
feel
even
that
is
too
many.
Here,
five
are
commonly
implanted.
It
is
a
multiple
predicament
indeed:
Most
such
infants
are
born
too
early
and
too
small.
Serious
medical
problems
are
common,
and
keep
many
babies
in
intensive
care
for
weeks
or
months.
Some
die;
others
are
afflicted
for
life.
The
cost
is
enormous:
in
economic
terms
for
the
state,
in
the
strain
on
medical
facilities,
and
in
emotional
trauma
for
the
families.
US
figures
show
incidence
of
child
abuse
in
families
with
multiples
is
higher.
Even
in
the
best
of
circumstances,
when
the
babies
are
all
healthy,
it
is
usually
too
much
of
a
good
thing:
Families
struggle
for
years.
Marital
counseling
becomes
the
norm,
and
the
incidence
of
breakups
is
high.
In
some
cases,
even
mothers
have
fled.
Associations
for
triplet
families
worldwide,
including
Israel's
Triplets
Plus,
have
as
many
horror
stories
to
tell
as
happy
ones.
Expectant
parents
are
often
forced
to
make
a
decision
that
torments
them
for
life.
The
doctor,
having
recklessly
over-implanted,
may
then
offer
the
staggered
couple
a
grisly
choice:
kill
some
of
the
growing
embryos,
or
risk
losing
them
all.
Well,
what
would
you
decide?
It's
a
matter
of
scientific
complacency:
The
procedure
is
routine
for
the
practitioner;
for
his
patient,
the
result
is
immensely
fateful.
The
scientist's
concern
is
how
to
make
babies,
not
how
to
raise
them.
If
he
conjures
up
a
batch,
he
has
succeeded;
if
the
parents
can't
cope,
it's
their
failure.
One
of
the
world's
foremost
fertility
experts,
Dr.
Robert
Winston
of
London,
clamors
vociferously
for
ethical
considerations
to
wrest
precedence
from
technological
egoism.
Couples
should
be
counseled
before
starting
treatment;
three
babies
at
once
is
a
brutal
burden;
limited
failure
is
preferable
to
excess
success.
In
Israel,
families
with
multiples
are
better
off
than
in
most
countries.
Governmental
aid
is
comparatively
generous,
with
both
the
Ministry
of
Labor
and
Social
Affairs
and
National
Insurance
Institute
chipping
in.
But
it's
a
limited
pie,
and
as
more
and
more
families
claim
a
slice,
the
inevitable
happens:
Last
year,
in
both
Dimona
and
Jerusalem,
the
money
ran
out
by
September.
Desperately
needed
payments
were
abruptly
stopped.
(And
then,
there
are
always
the
perils
of
bureaucracy:
One
NII
clerk
showed
astounding
insensitivity
to
an
expectant
Negev
father
inquiring
about
assistance.
ג€Ask
me
again
next
month,ג€
she
barked
back,
ג€if
all
three
babies
are
still
alive.ג€)
Israeli
lobbyists
for
controlled
fertility
treatment
find
little
sympathy,
in
large
part
because
this
country
is
mad
about
children:
If
one
is
a
blessing,
three
are
three
blessings.
Even
if
it
is,
shall
we
say,
a
blessing
disguised.
One
mother
gave
birth
to
triplets.
Two
have
Down's.
ג€I
thank
God
that
two
of
them
have
it,ג€
she
said,
ג€because
theyג€™ll
always
have
each
other.ג€
