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Medical society boots doctor who did IVF in Suleman octuplets case

  • Story Highlights
  • Reproductive medicine society: Dr. Michael Kamrava "violated" standards
  • Kamrava implanted Nadya Suleman with six embryos before octuplets' birth
  • Expulsion from group does not affect Kamrava's ability to practice
  • Group advises no more than two embryos for women under age 35
By Alan Duke
CNN
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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The doctor who implanted six embryos in octuplets' mother Nadya Suleman last year has been expelled from a fertility medical society, a spokesman for the group said.

Nadya Suleman gave birth to eight babies after being implanted with six embryos by Dr. Michael Kamrava.

Nadya Suleman gave birth to eight babies after being implanted with six embryos by Dr. Michael Kamrava.

Dr. Michael Kamrava demonstrated "a pattern of behavior that violated the group's standards," American Society for Reproductive Medicine spokesman Sean Tipton said.

An employee at Kamrava's Beverly Hills, California, clinic -- the West Coast IVF Clinic -- said the doctor would not be commenting on the expulsion.

The expulsion, which was imposed last month and just announced, does not affect Kamrava's ability to practice, because affiliation with the professional association is voluntary.

Suleman was 33 years old in January 2009 when she gave birth to eight babies. She was a single woman who already had six young children conceived through in-vitro fertilization.

The reproductive medicine society recommends no more than two embryos for women under 35 years old and no more than five for women over 40, for whom it is harder to get pregnant, according to guidelines published on its Web site.

Suleman, in an interview in February on NBC, said Kamrava told her about risks for the children, but she did not want to have only one or two embryos implanted.

"Of course not, I wanted them all transferred," she said. "Those are my children. And that's what was available and I used them. I took a risk. It's a gamble. It always is."

Two of the six embryos split in utero, resulting in the birth of eight babies.

Doctors say giving birth to extreme multiples comes with tremendous risks for the mother and the babies. Risks for the children include bleeding in the brain, intestinal problems, developmental delays and lifelong learning disabilities.

Suleman's children, six boys and two girls born nine weeks premature, all went home after an extended stay in the hospital. No indication has been given on whether any problems have emerged.

Suleman and her children will star in a "quasi-reality TV series" about the family, it was announced in June.

CNN's Carey Bodenheimer contributed to this report.

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