Tonight after reading the Egyptian newspapers online, I read the amazing follow up on the the woman Chazala Khamis, who had the septuplets in Alexandria. In the Daily Star Egypt I read that the birth of the Khamis' septuplets has actually now let to a fertility discussion in Egypt and Western medical world. Main worry is that cheap fertility treatments - locally made versions of the drugs are government-subsidized and only cost about $7.50 a shot - and Egyptians' eagerness to have many children could lead to more risky multiple pregnancies which the country's health system cannot handle.
Chazala Khamis had been given fertility treatment, even though she was a healthy woman - she had given birth to two girls before - previous babies. After five years without conceiving, the parents were desperate for a boy (sons can make a living). The doctor decided to help nature a little bit and gave her hormones, result: seven babies!! With - El Hamdililaah - at least three of them sons.
Septuplets are quite medical miracle in a country like Egypt, where incubators and neonatal respirators in public hospitals are rare. It was amazing all babies survived the birth, considering the circumstances. Doctors had made Chazala Khamis wait long to deliver the babies because Egypt has only a few respirators for newborns. Plus the incubators sent by The Health Ministry were not sterile, there were not enough for all seven babies and there was no air conditioning in the operating room.
Doctors now worry that lack of guidelines in Egypt for fertility treatment and not enough facilities to deal with high-risk pregnancies could lead to a lot of problems. In addition, Egypt faces concerns about overpopulation and cheap fertility drugs could lead to a wave of multiple births. President Hosni Mubarak warned in June that growth is hindering Egypt's economy, saying Egypt's population of 79 million — mostly crammed into the 3 percent of the country's area around the Nile River — will double by 2050.
In line with some local traditions, each of the septuplets was given a name on their birth certificates, then a second "nickname." The children were nicknamed after Mubarak and his family — in hopes of winning government help for the children. The Health Ministry has pledged milk and diapers for two years, but Khamis says what she really needs is an apartment in Alexandria to be closer to doctors.
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This article is a summary of article by Hadeel Al -Shalky: 'Setuplets stir bebate on fertility drugs' http://dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=16075
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