Infanticide remains one of the most mysterious and unexplainable human traits and is defined as “the act of killing an infant”.  When a mother kills her offspring, most of us simply can’t understand the thought process that would allow a woman to carry a child nine months, give birth and then take that child’s life. 

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This week marks the arrest of 70-year old Marie Noe in 1998 in Philadelphia.  She was charged with suffocating eight of her children.  Each time one of her babies went into distress, the common denominator was her lone presence.  These deaths occurred between 1948 and 1968.  She eventually confessed to killing four of the children but denied taking the lives of the other four.  Her lawyer negotiated a twenty-year probation coupled with five years house arrest for the now-70 plus year old woman. 

Across the country, sentences vary for women found guilty of murdering their babies.  In 1994, Susan Smith claimed her car was hijacked with her two sons in the back seat, and finally confessed, after a nationwide manhunt, to driving the car into a lake with her children buckled in.  She’s serving a life sentence in a South Carolina prison.  In Texas, Andrea Yates made a 911 call in 2001 claiming to have killed her five children by drowning.  She too was convicted and received life in prison; however, the conviction was eventually overturned and she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.  She’s since been committed to a mental facility in Texas. 

Diane Downs was convicted in 1984 in Oregon for murder, attempted murder and criminal assault.  She also claimed her vehicle was approached by a stranger with an order for her to get out while her three children were in the back seat.  All three children were shot.  One daughter died, while another daughter and a son survived, but who suffered permanent physical and emotional damage. The judge who sentenced her in 1984 was vocal in his desires for Downs to never be released from prison.  She escaped from prison a few years later, only to be recaptured within two weeks.  She was recently denied parole and many believe she’ll never be released.

Clearly, sentencing guidelines vary from state to state and many factors play into how these women are punished.  Maybe it’s that same human nature that drives these women to kill their children that determines their sentences.  Juries and judges are human.  Susan Smith and Diane Downs both played the media and mastered the grieving mother role, all the while lying to everyone around them for weeks and months.  Each allowed law enforcement to continue searching for phantom killers and each allowed other family members to mourn and worry while they had the answers.  Andrea Yates never denied killing her children.  She didn’t allow law enforcement to waste time and resources looking for figment of her imagination she created. 

Regardless of how these cases get played out in the media and courtrooms, and no matter the mother’s behavior, one common thread remains: no one can ever provide a satisfactory explanation for what drives a woman to kill her own offspring.

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 Admittedly, I have very little knowledge of who Jon and Kate are, let alone this magical ‘8′ that follows the title of their TLC reality show, Jon and Kate Plus 8.  Listening to screaming little ones just doesn’t fall into my preferred TV viewing choices, especially if there’s a Law & Order to be found among the available shows.  But it’s hard to ignore the headlines and the news of nearly 10 million viewers who caught last night’s season premiere.  My first question was, “So if everyone’s watching Jon and Kate, who’s paying attention to the North Korean nuke crisis?”

After I delved into the seemingly thousands of websites dedicated to the drama that is now this young couple’s life, I realized there exists the very real possibility of a divorce and custody battle playing out in the media.  Then I realized that magic number ‘8′ is in reference to the number of children this couple share.  Accusations of adultery seems to be what most are interested in and maybe it’s because I’ve come in late on this, I have no idea who’s fooling around on whom, who’s the nagging spouse or for that matter, who’s taking care of these kids while all of this supposed adultery is taking place.  The Learning Channel staff, maybe?

It’s more than surprising when one starts searching for reports from anyone associated with this couple regarding the well-being of these kids should a divorce come to pass.  Clearly, they’re happy kids and despite the constant media up their little noses, they seem to be well-adjusted.  Mom and Dad love these kids, no doubt.  But there are a lot of unanswered questions.   Why would this couple agree to yet another season of this insanity, knowing cameras, both from The Learning Channel as it films their lives as well as the paparazzi, are filming every “evil eye” that’s passed between them and every sigh each time one spouse needles the other?  Aren’t these things better resolved behind closed doors, the way marriages used to work?  Surely by now the money this couple has earned by allowing this all access has been earmarked for lawyers and counselors, especially if they do choose to divorce.  We’ll never know if their lives would’ve been more peaceful had they not chosen to participate in this show, but hopefully, for the welfare of those kids and for their own sanity, they’ll not agree to another season.

If the adultery accusations are true, you can be sure these trysts are more than documented somewhere and depending on which state they reside in (seriously, I never watch this show), one or the other stands to shell out major money each month on child support and possibly alimony payments.

Seems the only thing these two people agree on is how frustrated their lives have become since allowing cameras anywhere near them.  Hopefully, they can find some middle ground before they destroy their marriage and find themselves co-parenting their children from two separate addresses.