[Arthur McGowan]

You mean “virginal conception,” i.e., the conception of Jesus by Mary, without a human father.

The “Immaculate Conception” is the conception of Mary, who had a human mother and human father, without Original Sin.

[grasshopper2]

Most Catholics do think "Immaculate Conception" refers to the virgin birth. Until recently, I thought so myself. (For those who don't know, "immaculate COnception" is the doctrine established by the Church in the mid 1800's that Mary was conceived without original sin.

In the case of the mother of the octuplets, it's quite possible that she is still a virgin despite giving birth to 14 children, a very strange story indeed. I do hope the doctor who tansferred 8 embryos will be identified and scrutinized and that the outcome will be the establishment of strict medical standards regarding the practice of invitro and other fertility proceedures such as manditory psych and socio-economic evaluations and limits on the number of fertilized eggs transferred.