Newcastle Mother's 17 Children Taken Into Care After Birt

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36477849

Hopefully, this is a rare case, but couldn't the various Authorities have done something, rather than wait in Maternity with wicket-keepers gloves on all these years ?

[anotheoldgit]

This woman should now be sterilised.

[jackthehat]

What a dreadful life she must have lead.....
It would have been better if she could have been gently persuaded to be sterilised.....for her own mental well-being.

[Islay]

How would you suggest the authorities go about steralising her? Suggest that she is mentally unfit?

Whilst I do not agree with her having so many children she is not doing anything illegal.

[Mamyalynne]

Tragic case/s - as the article states for some it is a vicious cycle that continues to spiral on for years.

[RATTER15]

Very sad, sounds like she has mental issues.

[ladybirder]

Awful. Poor children. Hope they were adopted and not spent their whole young lives in care.

[RandyMarsh]

wager that there are 2 or 3 men that could do with being sterilised as well.

[hc4361]

There is a long, long list for babies that can be adopted. I expect this lady has brought joy to many people.

[pixie374]

It is awful. A lot of these women obviously need a lot more support. It doesn't even give any real reason why?

[ToraToraTora]

you mean she has 18 kids and the first 1 was called Birt?

[anotheoldgit]

RandyMarsh

/// wager that there are 2 or 3 men that could do with being sterilised as well. ///

I wondered how long it would be before this was wheeled out.

This woman had control over her own body, why blame the men, she most likely doesn't even know who the fathers are.

[jourdain2]

When I was young, there was a girl in the village who began having babies at 16 yrs.old. After she had had 8 (to different fathers) she was sterilised whether she wanted or not. It was done immediately after No. 8 - to the relief of her adopted parents who had taken the first 2 on. I don't know the law back then, but that's what happened - surely some sort of order could have been made in this case? What a miserable life to be pregnant all that time and face all those births.

[Old_Geezer]

In order to sterilise I think you have to boil for 20 minutes.

[Islay]

//This woman had control over her own body, why blame the men, she most likely doesn't even know who the fathers are. //

So the men are not to take any blame in this at all anotheoldgit? It takes two to tango and men need to be responsible and keep it covered too!

[ladybirder]

hc // I expect this lady has brought joy to many people. \\

That is an incredibly understanding way of looking at the situation hc. x

[RandyMarsh]

I see your more than likely and raise you more than likely that they are all from 2 - 3 men that kept her permanently pregnant to keep her under their control, that happens in the real world AOG.

[Mamyalynne]

Sticking just to the Newcastle Mum - we have no clue as to her life, her upbringing and what type of relationships she formed along the way and who with.

We don't know if she was well, abused, on drugs or indeed anything more than what the article tells us.

I for one won't judge purely on that.

[Mamyalynne]

Spot on Randy, there are men who use that very thing to control and keep a woman where they want her - even to the point of searching for and destroying any contraceptive pills etc.


But again , we don't know.

[Old_Geezer]

It is a difficult situation as folk have ownership of their own body so the State will have moral difficult opting to operate on someone without their express desire for it.

On the other hand there is a responsibility for not only the stream of children, which means one breeding machine can generate loads of welfare requirement from the taxpayer.

Surely there must be a point at which the demand on the public purse takes priority and the (ir)responsible parent has to be sterilised ?

It may well be that they are mentally deficient. Continually producing a stream of offspring without the means to support them does suggest this.

Meanwhile no one has the moral right, on an overcrowded planet, or even country, to produce more surviving offspring than they and their partner reduce the population by when they die. To do so means they are part of the global overpopulation problem, not part of the solution.

[anotheoldgit]

RandyMarsh

I repeat, she had control over her own body, if she was forced to have sex, then she could have cried rape, and the law would have removed these men from society.