Remember Octomom? Her Kids are All Grown Up Now
Nadya Denise Doud-Suleman became famous after she gave birth to octuplets – that’s eight babies that grew in her womb simultaneously – in January 2009.
But this unique woman’s story doesn’t start and end with those eight children.
Nadya’s life is full of surprising twists and turns, and its unlikely events seem even more fantastic when you realize they’ve all happened to the same person – over a short period of time.
Image by @nataliesuleman / Instagram
So, what can possibly be more amazing than giving birth to octuplets? And how are Nadya and the kids doing these days? Read on to find out.
An Only Child
Nadya Suleman was born Natalie Denise Suleman in Fullerton, California, on July 11, 1975, an only daughter to her Iraqi father and Lithuanian mother.
Young Denise was raised an only child, but since a very young age she felt she would want to be a mother and have a big family and many children of her own.
This young girl’s wish would come true, after a fashion, but no one could foresee just how big of a family she’d end up having.
Holding On to the Dream
Nadya’s – then Natalie – dream of a big family didn’t let up as she grew older, and as soon as she graduated from high school, she felt she was ready to become a mother.
She was also planning on going to college, but that didn’t feel to her like it conflicted with her desire to start a family.
Image by @nataliesuleman / Instagram
It would be a while before she’d be able to realize this dream, but once she finally did, it would snowball beyond what anyone could have foreseen, Nadya included.
Falling in Love
In her early twenties, while Nadya was still in college, she met Marcos Gutierrez, a produce manager at a local supermarket.
The two felt a strong connection from the start, and went on to fall in love.
Nadya, of course, spoke with him about her desire for a big family from the get go – a desire Gutierrez shared as well.
Sadly, a big family wasn’t in Nadya and Marcos’ cards, and soon, a big rift would form between the two.
Mental Health
1996 wasn’t just the year in which Nadya got married – it was also the year in which she earned her psychiatric technician license at Mt. San Antonio College. Following her graduation, Nadya started working at the Metropolitan State Hospital – a psychiatric facility located in Norwalk, California, not far from her home.
Image by Mediapunch/Shutterstock (1614378a)
And while working in mental health can be immensely rewarding, for Nadya, the experience would prove more traumatic than she could have ever anticipated.
The Injury
On the morning of September 18, 1999, Nadya Suleman went to work, just like she did every other morning. Little did she know that that day would change her life forever.
Around noon, about twenty of the patients hospitalized at the facility started a riot – and Nadya dutifully intervened. In the resulting chaos, one of the patients flipped a wooden desk over, striking Nadya’s back with it.
As a result, Nadya suffered a severe herniated disc injury, which forced her to leave work. She received around $170,000 as compensation, which allowed her to get by for a while, but she would carry the injury with her for the rest of her life.
Insult to Injury
Following her injury, Nadia suffered quite a bit of emotional and physical distress – but that was nothing compared to the frustration and anxiety she was feeling in her marriage.
Since they got married, Nadia and Marcos were trying to conceive – but no matter how hard they tried, Nadia was simply unable to get pregnant.
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The issue became so pressing, that they decided to go to a doctor in order to find out what was going on.
When it Rains, it Pours
Nadya and Marcos began to look into baby making seriously, reading up on the subject with all the material they could get their hands on and seeing multiple doctors – but to no avail. They were simply unable to get pregnant.
The issue weighed on Nadya so heavily, that she was beginning to feel depressed and dejected – until Marcos and her finally saw a doctor who gave them the hard truth. They were going through all the motions like they should – but Marcos was sterile.
The news was another heavy blow to take, but at least it allowed them to deal with the problem head on – and the two started to consider alternatives.
An Impossible Choice
Despite her husband’s sterility, Nadya wasn’t willing to give up her dream of a family with many children. If they couldn’t do it in the traditional way, she reasoned, they’d have to seek out alternative methods. But while he loved her very much, Marcos wasn’t on board with her desire to have children using non-traditional means.
When Nadya suggested they use a sperm donor and in vitro fertilization (IVF) – a procedure through which an egg is fertilized outside of the body – Marcos objected, saying he didn’t like the idea of “test tube babies.”
Image by Mediapunch/Shutterstock (1755320b)
If she was set on conceiving via IVF, Marcos said, he’d leave her.
Making a Decision
Marcos’ ultimatum placed Nadya in a difficult position. She had to a make a choice: would she stay with the man she loved, or would she choose to have the kids she’d always dreamed about?
While the choice was difficult, Nadya felt her future children were more important to her than her romantic relationship.
In the year 2000, Nadya chose to end her and Marcos’ relationship, and to start IVF treatments in order to conceive.
Taking a Risk
IVF isn’t a very dangerous or complicated procedure, but it doesn’t boast a 100 percent success rate – and it’s prohibitively expensive. Nadya, however, had already experienced her share of failure and disappointment, and wasn’t particularly discouraged by these facts.
Image by Mediapunch/Shutterstock (1755320h)
Because eggs implanted in the womb after IVF don’t always take, doctors usually implant more than one egg at a time – a process which makes twins more likely. Was Nadya willing to take the risk?
Totally Willing
Nadya wasn’t worried about having more than one baby at all. She wanted a big family, and if that meant starting out with two babies instead of one – well, the more, the merrier!
But Nadya could have possibly expected what the future held for her, as she was soon about to find out.
Nadya decided to go through with the IVF treatment, and would soon fulfil her dream of becoming a mother.
Finally a Mother
Despite the risk of multiple babies, Nadya’s IVF pregnancy went off without a hitch, and in 2001 she gave birth to her first child – an adorable, beautiful baby boy whom she named Elijah.
Finally, Nadya’s dream of becoming a mother was coming true – but she didn’t want just one baby.
Image by Shutterstock (869554r)
She had wanted a big family, and it being just her and Elijah didn’t feel like enough.
More Babies on the Way
A year after she gave birth to Elijah, Nadya gave birth to a daughter by the name of Amerah.
But despite already having two children in her growing family, Nadya still didn’t feel like that was enough – and decided to continue the treatments.
After Amerah, Nadya gave birth to two fraternal twins – and to two more kids after that, making for six kids total!
But despite having a large family by any count, Nadya felt like she still wanted more.
One Baby Too Much
Six kids is quite a number of children to have, but Nadya wanted another daughter, since most of her kids were boys.
She decided to turn to her doctor, a man by the name of Dr. Michael Kamrava, and ask for another IVF treatment.
Nadya had six fertilized eggs left over from her previous IVF treatments, and, due to the pro-life views she held at the time, didn’t want them to go to waste – and so, she asked Dr. Kamrava to implant all of them in her womb in one go.
Image by Nadya Suleman/ Facebook
But it didn’t stop there.
Going Against Procedure
Dr. Kamrava wasn’t sure about implanting all of Nadya’s fertilized eggs at once. It went against all good practices and even challenged some ethical codes – but Nadya was adamant, and Kamrava ultimately decided to go along with her wishes.
Nadya was aware of the risks.
But Kamrava didn’t stop there. Rather than injecting just the six fertilized eggs already left over from previous treatments, he went ahead and implanted 12 eggs in total – surpassing the recommended maximum number of eggs by 10!
Image by Dave Allocca/Starpix/Shutterstock (5624905a)
Nadya wanted to make sure she’d get pregnant, and Kamrava went against all good judgement and humored her request.
Octuplets
Dr. Kamrava’s decision to go along with Nadya’s wishes is unprecedented in the medical community, and resulted in his medical license being revoked – but only after his IVF treatments had taken place… and after Nadya was found to be pregnant with eight babies.
But while others may have been worried about carrying so many babies to term, Nadya was excited.
Image by Dave Allocca/Starpix/Shutterstock (5624905e)
No matter how excited she was, though, there were serious questions about whether she’d be physically capable of carrying so many babies to term, let alone care for them after they were born.
Octomom is Born
The nine months during which Nadya Suleman carried her octuplets took a serious toll on her body.
The human body is simply not made to carry so many babies at once, and her unique situation made her a viral sensation – and earned her the nickname, “Octomom.”
It wasn’t just the fact that she was carrying eight babies that made her famous – but the fact that she was already a single mother with six kids before she got pregnant for the fifth time!
Healthy Kids
Nine months passed quickly, and soon enough, it was time for Nadya to give birth.
Astonishingly enough, all of her babies were born healthy, and the delivery went by without a hitch.
This may sound trivial, but Nadya’s babies were the first ever set of octuplets to ever be born alive and remain so one week after their birth – a fact which turned Nadya into a viral celebrity overnight.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
But it also got people questioning her story, and raising concerns about her and her children’s wellbeing.
All Eyes On Her
After Nadya’s birth, she became the focus of many experts in the medical community. Because they didn’t yet know her pregnancy was the result of Dr. Kamrava’s IVF treatments, many were eager to examine her and understand how she was able to become pregnant with eight babies simultaneously, let alone carry them to term.
Even after learning that her pregnancy was the result of IVF treatments, the fact that her body was able to withstand the pregnancy was still considered extraordinary.
Media Darling?
By the time Nadya’s octuplets were born, she was already a media darling. Newspapers, tabloids, news channels and bloggers were all talking about her extraordinary pregnancy, and her face was seen on screens in every household in America.
“Octomom” was a viral sensation – and Nadya intended to capitalize on it.
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Shortly after giving birth, Nadya hired a PR team with the intention of staying ahead of the story and managing it – a feat which soon proved to be much more difficult than she had first anticipated.
Taken Over By Her Persona
Fame, they say, changes you. In Nadya Sulema’s case, fame changed her a lot.
Some critics argued that her desire for fame was what had driven her to have her extreme pregnancy in the first place, but even if that was true and she was truly just set on getting exposure, she still had 14 children to deal with when she came back home.
As “Octomom’s” celebrity persona came under harsher and harsher criticism, with many Californians blaming her for taking unfair advantage of taxpayer money through her use of welfare checks.
Getting Out of Hand
Nadya’s public persona was getting out of hand. She wasn’t able to control the coverage, and it soon turned toxic. In an attempt to regain control over the narrative, she decided to open up about her struggles, and began to give extensive interviews.
Image by nataliesuleman/Instagram
“I don’t get much sleep, about two or three hours a night,” she told PEOPLE Magazine. “But I’m continuing to move forward with my life and trying to be the best mother I can be.”
A Real Struggle
Despite the fact that Nadya was a national celebrity, she was struggling to make ends meet.
Eventually, despite her attempts to hold down a steady job and find lucrative means of income, she simply couldn’t handle the financial burden of 14 children, and had to accept welfare in order to stay afloat.
But even with government assistance, she would soon face difficulties she would have trouble resolving.
Child Protective Services
Due to the unending media coverage of Nadya’s extraordinary family, rumors started to spread.
Soon, people were saying Nadya was not taking good enough care of her children – and the cause for concern is understandable. After all, how could a single, unemployed mother take proper care of 14 children?
Inevitably, Child Protective Services were called – and decided to look into Nadya’s case and her family.
After a thorough investigation, Child Protective Services concluded that there were no grounds for the rumors, and that she was providing her children with a perfectly adequate home.
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But Nadya’s troubles didn’t end there.
Evicted
Nadya had managed to overcome Child Protective Services scrutiny, but her family still wasn’t safe.
Following her notoriety, she faced a new challenge; her landlord.
Nadya’s landlord wasn’t happy with the way she was living on his property, and eventually, decided to evict her.
Nadya was devastated. Her one desire in life was to be a good mother to her children, and suddenly, she was about to find herself out on the street, without means to put a roof over her children’s heads.
It was time to take action.
Capitalizing on her Celebrity Status
Nadya was unable to convince her landlord to let them stay, and so, she needed to find a job and new housing, stat.
Deciding to capitalize on her celebrity status, she turned to the film business – and also tried her luck in several other business ventures, including a foray into the music world.
Image by Picture Perfect/Shutterstock (1247756h)
But would that be enough to keep her afloat?
Starting Over
At some point, Nadya had to concede that letting the “Octomom” persona and the media circus around it was doing her and her children no good.
She felt like she had become a caricature of herself, and that she was living a life that was so far removed from who she truly wanted to be, that she had to make a change – for her children’s sake, and for her own.
It was then that she changed her name from Natalie Suleman to Nadya, and went on to finish her master’s degree in college, which allowed her to go on to work as a family therapist.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
But how were her kids doing?
What Happened Since?
The media hubhub around Nadya and her family died down around the time she changed her name,
and today, her octuplets are all a little over 9 years old – and doing really well.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Nadya still chronicles their lives in her very active Instagram account, which she called “the Solomon Family,” and all eight of her youngest kids now adhere to a very active and healthy lifestyle – and to a raw vegan diet.
Her Guardian Angel
Nadya credits the change she has undergone to a man whom she dubbed a “guardian angel,” who helped her find herself again.
One night, while she was still in the throes of her “Octomom” persona, she was at what she called a “seedy nightclub,” when suddenly, a very tall man entered the room.
“He walked straight to me and looked straight into my eyes,” Nadya recollected. “He took my hand and grabbed my arm and said in a very gentle, but firm way: ‘You don’t have to do this.’ He repeated it five times.” Nadya felt the tears streaming down her face, and it was then that she realized something had to change. “I knew I had to be my healthy self again.”
Taking a Look Back
Since Nadya has turned her life around back in 2013, it seems as if she’s awoken from a dream.
Her decision making, including her choice to implant so many embryos at once in her womb, seems unreasonable to her today, and she even went as far as saying that it was “foolish, immature and selfish” of her to have brought so many children into the world without the means to support them financially.
That being said, she doesn’t regret her choice, and loves her family very much!
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Today, Nadya is focused on raising her kids, and on instilling strong values in them.
Living Modestly
Raising 14 kids at home isn’t an easy feat, even if you live in a mansion – but the fact that Nadya is able to do so in a two-bedroom apartment with relatively little help is astounding.
But Nadya prefers it to the media circus that fueled her live before she decided to make a change.
Looking back at her time as “Octomom,” Nadya recalled that she “didn’t want to live. I felt less than human as that character I was pretending to be, to survive and provide for my family.”
Today, her modest life is infinitely more fulfilling.
Giving Them the Life They Deserve
Today, Nadya feels much more at peace with her decisions. Looking back at her decision to capitalize on her “Octomom” persona, she bitterly told the Daily Mail that “I was forced into doing things I didn’t want to do because I was so terrified, I couldn’t support them and give them the life they deserved.”
So, what are the octuplets, Makai, Josiah, Isaiah, Jonah, Maliyah, Jeremiah, Nariyah, and Noah, and their older siblings, Elijah (17), Amerah (16), Joshua (14), Aiden (12), and 11-year old twins Calyssa and Caleb up to today?
Image by Picture Perfect/Shutterstock (1247756i)
Let’s take a look!
A Normal Family
Nadya Suleman has basically given up her social life – but the payoff is that she gets to spend a lot of time with her family, whom she loves very much.
“They fight, play, fight and play again like any normal family,” Nadya told the Daily Mail.
Some of the kids are more outgoing, while others are shy and keep to themselves, which is a trait Nadya recognizes in herself as well.
Aiden, one of the family’s older siblings, is autistic, and the rest of the kids help to take care of him – especially Makai, who shares a very strong bond with him.
Serving Others
Nadya’s family has had to endure many hardships over the years, but today, they are a happy family.
“I’m focusing on raising the kids to focus on serving other people, to get out of their own head,” Nadya told US Weekly.
The kids are growing up with the expectation to help others, and this manifests in every aspect of their lives – including Christmas, during which every child receives just one present, which, in addition to the financial aspect, also helps the kids understand gifts should be earned, not blindly expected.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
This approach has helped her kids turn into some truly extraordinary people, as we’ll soon see.
Everyday Moments
While Nadya’s family life is definitely special in a lot of ways, there are still some experiences she shares with everyone.
Recently, for instance, before the start of a new school year, Nadya uploaded a photo of her octuplets to Instagram and captioned it: “Any other parents exceptionally stressed and overwhelmed by the first week back to school?”
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Whether you have 14 kids or just one, that’s a sentiment all parents can sympathize with!
Me-Time
Being a parent is never easy, but being a single mother to 14 kids is especially stressful – and Nadya has had to find ways to unwind, de-stress and take care of herself, in order to keep her and her family happy and healthy.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
One way in which Nadya unwinds is by clearing a few hours each week in which she goes to the gym. “The stress literally drips off of me, as I’m drenched in the end,” Nadya shared on social media. “Being physical has significantly helped me cope with so many challenges I’ve struggled with throughout my life.”
Girls’ Nights
Nadya has to be a pretty strict parent in order to maintain some form of order in the chaos that 14 kids can wreak – but that doesn’t mean she can’t take time off to have fun with her kids, either.
One of her favorite pastimes is to have a girls’ night off with just her daughters, during which they have a relaxing, spa-like experience at home, and take the time to laugh and unwind together.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
As for the boys? Nadya loves watching scary movies with them!
Dr. Oz
In May 2018, Nadya was invited to chat with Dr. Oz on The Dr. Oz Show.
The two spoke in depth about her life story, the circumstances which led her to decide to be fertilized with 12 embryos and where she is today.
Image via @nataliesuleman/Instagram
She talked about her family in depth, her transformation – and her YouTube channel, which she runs with her kids.
Rainbow Coalition
If you look at Nadya’s kids, their complexions vary from dark to light, brown to blue, short to tall.
The reason this is possible, despite all of them coming from the same mother, is that different genes are expressed in different embryos, and with a large, 14-person wide sample, there have been ample opportunities for Nadya’s various genes to express themselves in different ways.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Take the two siblings in this photo, for instance; Nariyah and Noah are actually from the same set of octuplets, but they’ve expressed their mother’s genetics in very different ways.
Healthy Siblings
While the diets and physical activities of her children vary, Nadya’s octuplets are all raw vegans, and all very physically active.
They love sports, and even participate in marathons and long-distance runs!
In this photo, taken in February 2018, Nadya’s octuplets are pictured just after they’ve completed the Russ Miller Memorial 5k race – but the kids do much more than just run races.
Read on to see how the kids choose to spend their time!
School Projects
When the octuplets aren’t running or working to raise money and awareness for important causes, they work hard at school.
In this photo, the kids hold up posters they’ve created as part of a school project about modern day heroes – and each child expressed him or herself in very original ways.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Nadya doesn’t like to be boastful about her kids, but it’s easy to see that she’s very proud of them, and she takes the time to heap praise, love and support on them whenever she has the chance.
Returning the Love
Nadya draws on hidden strengths and reserves in order to keep her family together and happy – and her kids are aware of that. That’s why they take the time to thank her and show her they love her back whenever they can – as these handmade Mother’s Day cards they all wrote her clearly demonstrate.
One card that’s missing from this pile is from Aiden, who struggles with autism.
Nadya’s experiences with raising Aiden have driven her to write a book.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
“It’s a story that needs to he told and I think it will encourage a lot of women to draw up strength that didn’t know they had,” she told Daily Mail.
Who Run the World?
Out of Nadya’s 14 children, only four of them are girls: Amerah (16), Calyssa (11), and the twins Maliah and Nariyah (9).
Because they’re such a small group of girls in a house full of boys, Nadya and the girls share a special bond. Nadya tries to have “girl time” and “boy time” every week, but actually likes it best when the entire family can hang out together – something that, as the years go by, happens less and less often.
Family Fun Night
With such a large household, structure is really important, and one way in which Nadya instills structure is through family traditions.
One important family tradition is “Family Fun Night”; every Saturday night, Nadya gets the family together to spend quality time watching movies, talking and playing board games.
Some of the family’s favorite activities are chess – and watching Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Today, the older kids often go out with friends instead of staying home, but the ten youngest Solomon Family siblings still love Family Fun Night!
Embracing Their Uniqueness
While being part of a set of octuplets can seem like a child’s unique personality may be swallowed up by the group identity, Nadya’s kids are all strong individuals who express themselves in their own ways.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
As they grow up, group photos of the octuplets are more and more difficult to take, because each one of them has their own things to attend to – but they still do many things together – like this school play in which they all took part!
Raw Veganism
Nadya and her eight youngest kids are all raw vegan, and enjoy a rich diet of fruits and vegetables. Nadya grew up as a vegetarian, so converting to veganism wasn’t very difficult, and she credits the diet and lifestyle with helping her overcome the medical conditions that arose from carrying octuplets to term.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Nadya and her kids are proud of their veganism, like this photo, which Nadya captioned “Could we be anymore vegan?” shows.
The Suleman Family
When you’re 15 souls, capturing the entire family in one photo is a huge logistical undertaking – but that doesn’t mean Nadya and her kids don’t have family photos together.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Natalie captioned the Instagram post with, “So THIS is what happened when we attempted to take a fun family photo with as many family members as possible. Per usual, Elijah, Amerah, and JJ are absent from the pic.”
The Suleman Family YouTube Channel
Nadya recently decided to open a family YouTube channel, in which she and her kids share their thoughts with the world, and which serves as a creative outlet for the family.
The first video they’ve uploaded is of Amerah, reading a letter she wrote to Nadya for Mother’s Day at a women’s event in Long Beach, California.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Currently, the channel is mostly run by Nadya herself, but she plans on letting her kids manage it, uploading vlogs, food challenges and other creative ideas they come up with.
Thanksgiving Run
In this photo, Nadya is seen with 10 of her 14 kids after the Turkey Trot five-kilometer family run that took place on Thanksgiving.
Maliyah, Josiah, Noah, and Isaiah were all winners for their age group of the race – and Nadya is extremely proud!
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
They all got pumpkin pies as prizes – which is a good thing, because making pies for 14 children is a chore!
Dealing With Her Injuries
Nadya is very physically active, but she also suffers from a wide array of physical issues – some the result of her many pregnancies, others, like her spinal injuries, just the result of life coming at her.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
She suffers from four ruptured discs in her lumbar spine, irreparable sacral damage, bilateral sciatica, as well as the peripheral neuropathy, which prohibits her from running – but she does climb 10 miles each day on the stair master, instead.
Young Natalie
While today, Nadya has a huge family, she grew up as an only child.
She recently uploaded this old childhood photo of herself. It’s amazing to think that this sweet little girl would one day grow up to be a mother of 14, and undergo many trials and tribulations – but would also be strong enough to overcome them.
Nadya’s story truly is remarkable.
Taking Care of Others
Nadya has always loved taking care of others.
When she was a child, while she dearly wanted to be a mother, she expressed her desire to care for others by taking care of cats.
Here, in this old 1975 photo, we can see Nadya with her favorite cat, Boots – who weighed over 50 pounds!
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
Nadya loved her cat and still tells her kids about him.
Grandma
Nadya loves sharing old pictures with her kids. In this photo, we can see Nadya’s mother, when she was just two years old – back in 1940.
Nadya couldn’t have raised her kids without her mother and father’s help, and the kids have grown up with the grandmother taking a very active role in bringing them up alongside their mother.
Image by @nataliesuleman/ Instagram
The Suleman family is truly extraordinary, and seeing how far Nadya and her kids have come over the years is truly inspirational.
