by Ezekiel J. Emanuel

About the author: Ezekiel J. Emanuel is chairman of the department of clinical ethics at the National Institutes of Health.

Just like the McCaughey septuplets of Iowa, whose first birthday [on November 26, 1998] recently made headlines in People magazine, the Chukwu octuplets of Texas [born in December 1998] have become a media spectacle. Daily bulletins detailing each child’s respiratory status, ultrasound results, and other developments fill the papers—not just the tabloids, but respectable outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post, as well. Inevitably, writers describe the eight live births in glowing terms—amazing, wonderful, even a miracle; they describe the mother as the brave survivor of adversity; they portray the hard-battling physicians as heroes and champions.

But what are we all celebrating? Modern reproductive technologies have...