Doctor 'gave octuplets mother Nadya Suleman 12 embroys'

A doctor implanted a dozen embryos into octuplets mother Nadya Suleman, a Californian state lawyer claimed today.

Dr Michael Kamrava knew implanting 12 embryos was "unsafe", and another doctor said such a transfer was unheard of, deputy attorney general Judith Alvarado said at a hearing to consider revoking or suspending the Beverly Hills physician's license.

Dr Kamrava endangered Ms Suleman, 33, and violated national standards of care, Ms Alvarado told the Medical Board of California.

Guidelines issued by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine specify that no more than two embryos can be used for in-vitro treatments for a healthy woman under 35.

Dr Victor Y Fujimoto, an expert witness for the medical board and director of the University of California San Francisco in-vitro fertilisation programme, said he had never seen 12 embryos, or blastocysts, being transferred into a uterus.

He reviewed hundreds of pages of medical records from Ms Suleman and other patients prior to giving testimony.

"I cannot imagine any colleague of mine transferring that many embryos," said Dr Fujimoto.

High-order multiple births can result in long-term developmental delays, cerebral palsy and various life-threatening ailments.

Fertility specialists have criticised Dr Kamrava's methods, saying he endangered Ms Suleman's health and the long-term health of the babies. Ms Suleman's babies, born nine weeks premature in January last year, are the world's longest-surviving set of octuplets.

Ms Suleman, a divorced single mother of 14, said Dr Kamrava implanted her with six embryos for each of her six pregnancies and two of them split when she had octuplets.

But Dr Fujimoto said Ms Suleman requested 12 blastocysts to be transferred into her, but added that it is a physician's job to make a decision not to transfer embryos, even when a patient insists.

The board set aside two weeks for the hearing to determine whether Dr Kamrava was negligent.