Nadya Suleman, 35, says raising 14 kids is extremely draining, both physically and
financially, and says she's doing the best she can to be a good parent. (Photos/Oprah)
Octomom Nadya Suleman is exhausted, sleep-deprived, lives in a chaotic circus environment and is struggling financially, but says her 14 children are "generally happy."
'NEED MORE ATTENTION'
Suleman, who turned 35 on July 11, concedes her kids don't get enough attention from her, but is grateful they're not troublemakers "so far."
Raising 14 young children is "the usual problems – times 14," Nadya tells Nightline. But she's grateful that her older kids: Elijah, 9; Amerah, 8; JJ, 6; Aidan, 5; and twins Caleb and Calyssa, 3, get decent grades and aren't troublemakers at school.
Meanwhile, Suleman's octuplets, born Jan. 26, 2009, are the world's longest-surviving octuplets. Nadya, a single, unemployed California woman, made headlines in 2009 when she gave birth to the octuplets.
She immediately became a lightning rod for controversy when it was revealed that she was already the mother of six children between the ages of 2 to 7 when she was implanted with six embryos through in-vitro fertilization. Two of the embryos split, which resulted in 8 babies.
Since then, Suleman has been struggling financially to raise all her kids, and does media interviews and photoshoots for money. In Jan. 2010, Nadya was criticized for posing for bikini photos in tabloids, but she said she was merely trying to earn an income to support her children. Suleman, who lost a stunning 150 pounds by dieting and working out, says she received $100,000 from Star magazine to pose in her bikini.
'I'M OBSESSED WITH HEALTHY EATING'
Suleman says her main priority is her children's health, trying to get some sleep and staying healthy so she can take care of her family.
"A healthy lifestyle [is so important for me]—I cannot reinforce that enough," she says. "I am obsessed with healthy eating, and then I even think the crew saw me constantly chasing the kids to eat healthy food. Food, vegetables." 
Nadya, who exercises often to deal with stress, insists she's not the fame-seeking nutcase portrayed in the media, now concedes her decision to have 14 children was immature and selfish.
Suleman also admitted that she was "addicted" to having children because of the unconditional love they provide.
“Kids won’t leave you," Nadya said. "You can create this safe, predictable little society. I created this village, my own little safe, predictable, safe village.”
SHE ONLY SLEEPS 3 HOURS A NIGHT
Nadya, whose dream of going back to school is on hold, is shopping a book deal. Suleman's mom, Angela recently slammed her daughter's irresponsible decision-making.
“She’s lucky if she gets three straight hours of sleep a night,” said Angela, 69. “There’s no time for anything else in her life. She had no idea what she was getting into. She has told me that she would never do it again.”
Sadly, the ones who will suffer the most from Nadya's psychological instability are her children. Angela says the octuplets are all crammed into one bedroom. “Its crazy, there are always babies crying, kids writing on the wall, everyone running around,” she says.
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Comments
how did you manage to get that operation, if everyone claims you had no money. That is whats stopping me now. Any tips, or anyone?
Raising children is hard no matter how many you have or what the circumstances of their birth. The children are here now and apparently the mother is struggling to care for them and give them the best care that she can. I think it is time for the media to stop beating this family down and let them survive.
I feel she is targeted injustly. Why is media not focusing on 19 & counting & the Gosslins? A family in my town had 17 & wasn't treated like this.
She is not targeted unjustly. Those other women had husbands and were not getting govenrment assistance.
You have to be insane to have a doctor put 8 embryo's in your body when you already have 6 children, and you are not married, and you have no job, and no home, but living with you mother in her small home.
So people, DON'T try to defend this woman.
If u bothered to read the story, she had 6 embryos, not 8. Two of them split causing 8 babies.
Aside from that, I think the media should leave her alone to raise those beautiful kids.
Well now the truth is out and she had 12 embryos implanted. She was irresponsible. She has made having IVF all the more difficult for decent families. Fertility Doctor will now err on the side of caution and not take REASONABLE chances because of her actions. Thanks Nadya, you ruined untold thousands of families.
Had Nadya used frozen embryos, the odds of all six taking is astronomical, but chances of two out of six splitting into twins, is almost nonexistent.
Testimony from her co conspirator, Michael Kamrava, MD, in the LA Court has proved Octo to be a liar again - in fact it has been revealed she has never used frozen embryos and still has 29 in cryopreservation. Kamrava said she was informed that the frozen embryos should be used, but she insisted on using fresh ova for every insemination - When he last treated Suleman, he implanted 12 fertilized embryos on July 19, 2008 - following the procedure she refused selective reduction and called him from her hospital bed after the octuplet birth.
Kamrava is facing multiple counts of Gross Negligence regarding Suleman's treatment and two other former patients (one who was found to have advanced ovarian cancer and has since passed away), Repeated Negligent Acts and keeping Inadequate Records. He stands to lose his medical license or have his license suspended, fines and sanctions.
Please get your facts straight. She did not do insemination, or IUI (Intrauterineinsemination). She did IVF-in vitro fertilization. Eggs were retrieved from her ovaries, fertilized with sperm, and transferred back into her uterus. You do not "implant" embryos, you transfer them and hope they implant into the uterine lining. If the doctors implanted them, then IVF would have a 100% success rate. You are misusing the terms insemination and implanted.
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