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American Morning
Catholic School Teacher Fired for In-Vitro Fertilization; Surviving Summer Travel
Aired May 11, 2006 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(NEWSBREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Child birth is a gift of life. On that, a Wisconsin couple and the Catholic Church are in agreement. But when Kelly Romanesko conceived her twins through in-vitro fertilization, she was fired from her Catholic school teaching job because the church, essentially, considers in-vitro to be immoral. Kelly says in-vitro fertilization was her only hope of getting pregnant and she's fighting her firing now.
Kelly joins us this morning from Appleton, Wisconsin, along with her attorney, James Jones. Nice to see you both. Thanks for being with us.
KELLY ROMANESKO, FIRED FOR IN-VITRO PREGNANCY: Good morning.
JAMES JONES, ATTORNEY: Good morning.
ROMANESKO: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Hey, Kelly, let -- walk -- you know, tell me a little bit more about all of this. You've been trying for quite a while to get pregnant, you and your husband, as well. Did your colleagues know that you were in the middle of in-vitro all this while?
ROMANESKO: No, they did not know. I actually started the process in the summer of 2004. So nobody knew other than, you know, my husband and my family.
S. O'BRIEN: September 2004, though, it turns out you're pregnant. And great news, you're pregnant with twins. How long after that did your bosses say that's it, you're done, we want you out?
ROMANESKO: Right. It was actually September -- early September that I informed them that we were going through the process and that the process would be finished in early September. October 14th, approximately, I informed them of my pregnancy. And then on the 18th of October, I was then terminated.
S. O'BRIEN: What was the reaction when you first told them? What did they say?
ROMANESKO: When I first told them I was going through in-vitro fertilization?
S. O'BRIEN: When you first told them, hey, guess what, great news, we're pregnant?
ROMANESKO: Oh, OK. Well, I -- I sent an e-mail to the administration of one of the schools that I taught at, the high school. And it just -- informing them of my pregnancy. They e-mailed me back saying congratulations.
S. O'BRIEN: And that was it?
ROMANESKO: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Did you know about this policy in the schools? Did you know that in-vitro was kind of in a nutshell considered to be an immoral way to conceive children within the Catholic Church?
ROMANESKO: No. When we started the process we did not have that idea.
S. O'BRIEN: Reverend John Dorfler (ph), who is from the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, here's what he says: "Any way that brings about human life that's apart from the intimate act of marriage, apart from the conjugal act, would not fully respect the dignity of the human person." He's been quoted as saying that. When you hear something like that, that the way you got the baby is the wrong way in the eyes of the Catholic Church -- or the babies, I should say, since you've got twin girls now -- what's your reaction to that?
ROMANESKO: Well, I can't really argue the Catholic doctrine. I mean, of course, I have my own opinions about it. But I -- the process worked for us. We're very happy with our children. They're miracles, they're precious to us. And I'm sure any other child that was conceived naturally, their parents feel the same way. I mean...
S. O'BRIEN: Mr. Jones...
ROMANESKO: There's not a difference.
S. O'BRIEN: Mr. Jones, what grounds are you going to sue on? I mean, doesn't the church -- as misguided as you might believe their position to be -- doesn't the church and the Catholic school have the right to say listen, we've got to fall -- we have to have teachers who follow church doctrine?
JONES: Well, we don't agree with the church's authority to set that doctrine or to say what the teachers should or shouldn't do. Our disagreement is that they don't enforce it consistently. My client was fired when she announced she was pregnant, but there are male teachers, we believe, who had fathered children by in-vitro who were not fired. Or other teachers with similar procedures or slightly different procedures who were not fired. And our position is that the church can say what they want and set their own doctrine. We're not arguing with that. We're arguing with whether they can selectively enforce it in a way that discriminates against my client as a woman and when she became pregnant.
S. O'BRIEN: Are those other teachers, the male teachers or even the female teachers, are they working with you now? Are they cooperating with you in your case as you go to court?
JONES: Well, we haven't spoken to them because, obviously, they have some privacy rights and some concerns about confidential information. I anticipate that they will tell us the truth when they are called to testify. And what we understand from what we've been told and what my client was told by some of those teachers -- we understand that they did use in-vitro to father children or to have other procedures that the Catholic Church disagrees with when it -- in regards to reproductive rights. What they will actually say on the stand, I don't know, but that's why we have hearings, is so we can find out.
S. O'BRIEN: Kelly, before all this sort of came to a head, you were a practicing Catholic, and now you're not. You've left the church. I'm just curious, personally, what this journey has been like for you.
ROMANESKO: It's been a difficult journey. We've had to make some tough choices, tough decisions. You know, it's been a real hard, difficult journey.
S. O'BRIEN: The babies are very cute. We've been showing them all morning.
ROMANESKO: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Kelly Romanesko, her attorney James Jones, as well. Thanks for talking with us. We're going to continue to follow this story, because it's got some really interesting implications, I think, across the board. Thank you.
Miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Andy Serwer is here.
Hello, Andy.
S. O'BRIEN: Hi.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Hello, you guys.
Some big, big news on the Sony Playstation 3. Now, it is still not out yet, but we'll tell you about that. Plus, a movie studio distributing its wares on the Web in an unusual way. We'll get to that coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
S. O'BRIEN: Well, starting this summer, believe it or not, you can wake up with Whoopi. Comedian Whoopi Goldberg is going to host a nationwide radio show, national radio show.
M. O'BRIEN: You know what, folks, still wake up with us if you don't mind. I mean, we like Whoopi, but...
SERWER: Can you TiVo radio?
M. O'BRIEN: You can watch us and listen to her simultaneously.
S. O'BRIEN: You can watch Whoopi, starting at 5:00 to 6:00, and then you want to dump out and join AMERICAN MORNING.
Thank you, Miles.
(CROSSTALK)
S. O'BRIEN: It's going to be syndicated on stations all around the country. The live program is going to air during morning drive, but again, you don't want to stay with her past 6:00 a.m., because that's when we begin.
M. O'BRIEN: And we love Whoopi. She's a friend of the show.
S. O'BRIEN: She is.
M. O'BRIEN: But you know, still.
S. O'BRIEN: She's going to sing songs.
SERWER: She is?
S. O'BRIEN: No, she's not.
M. O'BRIEN: We'll sing for you, if you like.
S. O'BRIEN: Sorry, Whoop, not going to sing songs; she's going to play songs, radio and all. She's going to taking phone calls and just talk.
SERWER: She can talk, too. She's got stuff to say.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, she's got a lot to say.
M. O'BRIEN: She's going to do that live at 5:00?
S. O'BRIEN: Apparently.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow. We'll give her some tips on how to get up at 3:00 in the morning.
S. O'BRIEN: But she's in radio. Could be in the bed doing it.
SERWER: In her jammies.
M. O'BRIEN: I like that idea.
S. O'BRIEN: She doesn't need our tips. We need her tips. M. O'BRIEN: That's right.
All right. Grapefruit juice part of a healthy diet, right? Well, mixed with certain drugs, believe it or not, it can be dangerous. We're going to a look at that in our "House Call."
And surviving summer travel. You've got to -- more to worry about on vacation than just sunburn. From identity theft to medical emergencies, oh, why don't you just stay home for gosh sakes. No, we'll give you some travel tips coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: In today's installment of our series, "Surviving Summer Travel," getting the best value for your vacation dollar. Nilou Motamed is senior editor of "Travel and Leisure," and she joins us from the Carlton Hotel in New York City.
Hi, Nilou. Nice to see you again.
NILOU MOTAMED, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE": Nice to see you, too, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, I had no idea that it literally is "Go to a Hotel Month." I mean, who knew?
MOTAMED: It is, indeed!
S. O'BRIEN: What is the Carlton doing?
MOTAMED: I'm here to tell you about it. Well, the Carlton is part of over 100 different hotels who are participating in "Travel and Leisure"'s Go to a Hotel Month. We decided, it is our 35th birthday and we wanted to do something really special, and so we asked lots of different hotels to participate in different ways. The Carlton is offering a great deal, which is, the last week of June, you can book a hotel room here, and every subsequent night after your first night, they give you a 35 percent discount.
But you just don't have to stay at a hotel to take a advantage of Go to a Hotel Month in June. You can drink. One way to do it is the first week of June, you can go to bar week, anywhere from Aspen at Littlenow (ph) or Raffles Hermitage (ph) in the heart of Beverly Hills. So you can be at very luxurious places, but saving money. Thirty-five cents a drink, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Not every hotel -- 35 cents a drink, wow. Note every hotel is participating. How do you find which ones are participating and what the actual specifics of the deals are?
MOTAMED: There are so many deals, but also spa deals and restaurant deals, as well. And the best place to go is travelandleisure.com. All the hotels -- that are over 100 hotels -- are listed there.
S. O'BRIEN: Some hotels are tapping into all the gas price anxiety. What are they doing?
MOTAMED: Well, I mean, the last time I put gas in my car it was $75 to fill the tank, and that...
S. O'BRIEN: I so beat you on that! Mine was $88.
MOTAMED: You did?
S. O'BRIEN: Eighty-eight!
MOTAMED: Whew. You got one of those gas guzzlers.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I do. I do.
MOTAMED: It's unbelievable. And one great thing that's happening is hotels are actually trying to give rebates. In Aspen, you'll find that this summer, you're going to get a $50 rebate from their chamber of commerce. If you go to participating hotels -- hotels like the Jerome (ph) are participating. I'm going to aspen in about a month to the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, and I'm really excited to take advantage of that.
Also, bed and breakfasts are even joining in to give tanks. And what they're doing is giving $25 back. And to go and find out which hotels are participating with bed and breakfast, it's bedandbreakfast.com.
S. O'BRIEN: There -- there's a final one there that says a $50 mountvachelorvillage.com (ph), $50 Shell gas card?
MOTAMED: Well, they're -- exactly, the same thing. They're basically giving you -- you can get a $50 gas card. And it really makes a huge difference. People are really planning their vacations around places where they can save some money.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, OK. But, you know, when you save -- think about spending money or really hemorrhaging money, I think, you know, travel with children, you know, multiply everything by five. It's just crazy expensive.
MOTAMED: You've got kids and you know that firsthand. And absolutely true. The greatest thing to do with kids is go camping. They're so entertained. They love being outdoors. But I'm not such a huge outdoors fan. And I don't know if you are, but I like having a little luxury when I'm outdoors.
And a great place to do that is El Capitan Canyon. This is in California, coastal California, right outside of Santa Barbara. It is amazing because you get these really luxury tented facilities, so you have down comforters and great linens and -- but you're still out in the elements. You can hiking, biking, kayaking. But then you can also get a massage. I like that balance.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, absolutely.
MOTAMED: And the rooms are a great price, only $115 per night. S. O'BRIEN: A hundred and fifteen dollars a night? Wow.
MOTAMED: Exactly. These are -- this is for the tented camp. And if you want to go a little bit more luxurious and stay in one the cabins, it's only $135 a night.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow, still, that's a great deal. You've got some information about a hotel in Vermont that's cute but also has sort of a great package deal. How do you find great package deals?
MOTAMED: The most important thing when you're looking for package deals is just look around and see what you can find. One great Web site to go to is Site 59 for that. Because what they do is they put together fun air and hotel packages. And something that people don't realize is that when you do book a package deal, you are going to have some savings because consolidators have put it together, and you're not paying for each individual element.
The Equinox has taken that into their own hands and they're doing basically doing a golf package, which is $299 per night, and you're going to get all of your greens fees in there. So unlimited golf for $299 a night at one of these top 75 golf resorts in the country.
S. O'BRIEN: That sounds pretty good. Nilou Motamed is from "Travel and Leisure." Nice to see you, Nilou. Thanks so much.
MOTAMED: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up tomorrow, the final part of our series. We're going to look at some of the pros and the cons of cruise ship travel.
Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: In a moment, we'll have our top stories, including new details on a federal program that is secretly collecting phone call records, probably yours.
The Senate is expected to pass a $70 billion tax bill today.
The jury deliberates the fate of a priest accused of killing a nun.
A British report finding intelligence sources may have missed a chance to stop those terror bombings in London last summer.
And those Australian miners who were trapped for two weeks. They look pale, they look hearty, and they're speaking publicly for the first time. You'll want to hear what they have to say. Stay with us for that, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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