Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

News

Octuplets' Mom Shows Off Babies, Says Money is Just 'Paper'

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today. 

Nadya Suleman shows the Today Show's Ann Curry her octuplets and reveals their names in her first TV interview
Suleman shows off one of her octuplets on the Today Show
()


Suleman shows off one of her octuplets on the Today Show
Although Whittier's Nadya Suleman had her sights set on Oprah, the woman dubbed "Octo-Mom" by the media seems pretty content spilling her secrets to the Today Show. She gave her first interview to NBC's Anny Curry, which was broadcast today, and defended her choice to bear 14 children via in vitro fertilization, including the octuplets born in Bellflower two weeks ago.Suleman showed the babies for the first time today during the interview, revealing that her two tiny daughters and six sons are named after people in the Bible: Maliah, Noah, Jonah, Isaiah, Nariah, Jeremiah, McCai, and Josiah. Although Suleman was released from Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, the fragile newborns will likely remain hospitalized for the next several weeks, at a hefty final tab from conception to delivery and home.

For many, though, the bottom line is just that: A matter of money. Curry told Suleman that many speculated she had the babies in order to make money off them. Suleman replied:

That's funny how untrue that is. Money? Money is necessary to raise children. But it's...it's paper. It is paper. To me, it is superfluous in contrast to the importance of my kids.
Support for LAist comes from

Also garnering worry is the paternity of the children, all 14 of whom Suleman credits to the same man, a friend who served as a sperm donor. Suleman said she speaks to the friend a couple of times each year, but he has never seen the children. She says he was "shocked" to know she'd had octuplets, but that she doesn't anticipate him being actively involved in the kids' lives anytime soon. Suleman had been relying on her parents' help--they moved in to the home they bought for her once they went bankrupt and lost their own home--but Mr. and Mrs. Suleman have said publicly they plan on leaving the country soon, leaving Nadya to her own devices...and her 14 children all under the age of 8.

A self-described "professional student" whose own mother sees her desire to have children as unhealthy, Suleman has found herself in an uncomfortable spotlight; she has been criticized for having her last six frozen embryos implanted at once, and her wish to bring so many children into these tough economic times and yet not have secure personal finances has raised not only eyebrows, but serious ethical questions. In fact, Suleman's IVF doctor is being investigated, since it is atypical for so many embryos to be implanted in a woman only 33 years old.

Suleman said she had been working at a state mental hospital from 1997-2006, but received disability payments following an on-the-job injury sustained in 1999. In her interview she revealed more about her income:

Curry said that Suleman also told her that when she was working, she put in double shifts and saved as much money as she could to pay for the in vitro fertilization procedures that enabled her to have all her children. The woman also told Curry that she is relying on her church and friends to be there when she brings the babies home, which is not expected to happen for several weeks. “I'm not receiving help from the government,” Suleman told Curry. “I'm not trying to expect anything from anybody. [I] just wanted to do it on my own. Any resources that someone would really, really want to help us, I will accept, I would embrace.”

“How will you feed all of your children?” Curry asked.

“I will feed them. I will do the best I possibly can,” she said. “And in my own way, in my own faith, I do believe wholeheartedly that God will provide in his own way.”

Perhaps part of God's plan is the media frenzy surrounding Suleman and her unconventional family; they'll be on NBC's Dateline tomorrow night.

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist