One of the physicians who delivered the McCaughey septuplets spoke on the ethics of infertility technology to junior high and high school students at a speech Friday.

Dr. Paula Mahone, the medical director of prenatal services at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, was the keynote speaker at the 1998 Iowa State Science Fair at Hilton Coliseum.

In the wake of the Carlisle, septuplets’ birth last November, there has been nationwide debate concerning the ethics of the use of technology to combat infertility.

Mahone, a devout Christian, told the audience of about 700 students, parents and teachers there is no easy answer to the ethics question.

“It would be easy to say, ‘If God meant us to have babies, then we would be able to get pregnant without any help from science,'” she said.

However, this answer may be too simplistic, Mahone said.

“I think that would mean that we’re holding infertility to a different standard than we hold everything else,” she said. “We use technology and science in so many other ways than just infertility.”

Mahone also addressed the ethics of cloning. “With any technology we have,” she said, “there is a potential to do harm.”

However, she said that despite all the ominous predictions, cloning has great possibilities to benefit humanity.

“I feel very strongly that all people of different walks of life all have to be a part of the ethical decision-making that we have as a world and what we’re going to do with any of the technology that we have,” Mahone said.

Mahone emphasized the idea that everything in our world is connected, and that being knowledgeable in all aspects of life is critical.

“If we stay connected to all the things that are around us … it will help us to make good decisions about whether science is good and what science technology should we pursue,” she said.

“A lot of people ask questions about ‘How do you balance God and science?'” Mahone said.

“This delivery was a great example of the merger between science and faith,” she continued. “[The McCaugheys] believed that God would see them through the delivery, even if the outcome had not been as wonderful as it was,” Mahone said.

Still, the McCaugheys’ faith did not keep them from heeding the advice of the medical staff, she said. “They listened to what we had to offer them … and gave all of the concern to God and said, ‘We are trusting you to help us through this.'”

Mahone’s faith, as well as that of the other doctors, made them empathetic to the McCaugheys’ situation.

“They knew that they had physicians who completely understood and honored how they felt,” she said.

The theme of Mahone’s talk was “Journey to Excellence,” and she encouraged students to persist, saying “it is absolutely possible to be an achiever,” no matter what the circumstances.

She said even though she wasn’t a straight-A student, she had the “sheer will to get decent grades” and to learn as much as she could in school.

Encouragement from friends and family has a big impact on success, Mahone said.

In order to succeed, she suggested, students should surround themselves with people who are motivated to achieve their own goals.

“It’s really important, as young people, to realize that the people with whom you hang out affect your life tremendously,” she said.

Mahone encouraged students to persevere through tough times in their education.

“When you have not reached your goals in the amount of time or years that you wanted, that doesn’t mean that you are not a success. It means you have to maybe take a different route to that success,” she said.

She also reminded students to try to learn as much as they can about everything.

“Scientists need to know more than science,” Mahone said.

She encouraged students to do their best to enjoy their lives and their education while going through them.

“My personal belief is that we are only here on this planet one time,” Mahone said, “so while we’re here, we need to do the best that we can and learn the most that we can.”