Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: April 27, 1998 SAN DIEGO -- One of the premature quadruplets born to a 55-year-old single woman through the help of fertility treatments has apparently died. KFMB-TV reported that a girl, weighing about 10� ounces, died Sunday. Her two sisters and brother remained in critical care, the station reported Monday. Sharp Mary Birch Hospital, where the quadruplets were born about three months premature on April 18, declined to confirm any information about the children or their mother, Merryl T. Fudel, who requested the confidentiality. Fudel, thought to be the oldest woman in the United States to give birth to quadruplets, was reportedly released from the hospital Monday. She did not return a phone message left Monday by The Associated Press on her home answering machine in San Diego. Dr. Cristo Zouves performed the in vitro fertilization treatments on Fudel at the Pacific Fertility Clinic in San Francisco using donated eggs and sperm. He has said he did not intend for Fudel to have multiple births and was devastated by the outcome. "This is a disaster and the very thing we strive not to have happen," said Zouves, adding that patients are urged to abort when there are multiple fetuses in order to improve the chances of a surviving baby. He said his clinic does not discriminate on the basis of age. Fudel was a part-time USAir employee who used the state's Medi-Cal health insurance program for the poor to pay for prenatal care, her hospitalization and the intensive care for her sick babies, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Fudel, who has been married five times, apparently went broke paying for fertility treatments, which can cost up to $8,000 a treatment. The newspaper reported she borrowed at least $20,000 to cover the costs. Neonatal care experts said the infants faced a long hospital stay with many medical needs, which may cost millions of dollars. An infant born three months premature has a 70 percent chance of making it. If they survive, they face a 10 to 20 percent chance of being handicapped, said Dr. Thomas Moore, chairman of the Department of Reproductive Medicine at UC San Diego. Babies born three months premature run a risk of cerebral palsy, cerebral hemorrhage, nervous system disorders and learning difficulties, Moore said. Fudel's fifth husband, Anthony Fudel, said she had been interested in having a child since reaching her 40s. His former wife had no other children. The couple was married for about a year. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
