Catholic World News News Feature

British Octuplets Mother Loses All Babies October 03, 1996

LONDON (CWN) - A pregnant British woman who had hoped to carry eight children to term lost the last four on Wednesday night.

Mandy Allwood, 32, began miscarrying on Monday in the 19th week of her pregnancy, losing three babies the first day, another on Tuesday, and the final four on Wednesday.

Allwood caused controversy in Britain because she became pregnant using fertility drugs although she isn't married and already has a child. After she vowed to keep all of the children despite doctor's warnings she could lose some or all, Allwood hired a publicist and sold her story to a tabloid newspaper. The News of the World offered a large, six-figure sum that depended on the number of children she gave birth to.

"It's just tragic," her publicist Max Clifford said. "We were all aware of the risks, and that this was a strong possibility or even probability, but it doesn't diminish the tragedy when it actually happens."

Although British pro-life groups decried the commercial exploitation of the whole affair, they remained Allwood's staunchest supporters, defending her decision not to "selectively abort" up to six of the babies. "She would always have wondered if her decision had been responsible for the deaths of all of her babies," said Phyllis Bowman of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. "Instead, nature has taken its course."