The infamous “Octomom” Nadya Suleman is marking a big anniversary this year. According to E! News, Suleman’s 8 children have reached their 14th birthday. It’s the day that these kids were literally born to enjoy and their mother is out to make it special even into the teenage years.
As TMZ notes, the birthday is a new look at something many didn’t expect to see happen. The “Octomom” and her octuplets are almost fully grown octuppeople. Suleman, who prefers Natalie over her viral nickname, shared the moment with TMZ as the kids got to hear Happy Birthday before enjoying some sweet treats.
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Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Jonah, Maki, Josiah and Jeremiah were all born back in 2009 via C-section in the final result of Suleman’s in vitro fertilization efforts. According to E! News, a specialist in California implanted 12 embryos into Suleman, with the eight children emerging on Jan. 26, 2009. The kids weighed between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces, according to the outlet.
Almost as remarkable, Suleman has other children apart from her eight famous babies. She is mother to six older kids, Elijah, 21, Amerah, 20, Joshua 29, and Aidan 17, and two younger twins, Calyssa and Caleb, 13.
As E! News adds, the fame lost a lot of its luster for Suleman after the birth of her eight kids. Sitting with the New York Times back in 2018, she explained how her quest for fame was all for show. “I was pretending to be a fake, a caricature, which is something I’m not, and I was doing it out of desperation and scarcity so I could provide for my family. I’ve been hiding from the real world all my life,” Suleman said to the outlet.
She added that she suffers from some PTSD due to the “reporters coming in over the years” and she was viewing it as her only route to survival. “I would take whatever I could back in the days, and I would let them in,” she added. “I was spiraling down a dark hole. There were no healthy opportunities for Octomom. I was doing what I was told to do and saying what I was told to say. When you’re pretending to be something you’re not, at least for me, you end up falling on your face.”
Now she has more control over the coverage of her life and family with the help of social media. Suleman can now share what she wants directly with the world, while maintaining a buffer. “You are some of the most loving, thoughtful, conscientious, and humble human beings I have ever known,” she wrote in the latest birthday post for the kids. “The struggles we’ve endured over the years, have strengthened our connections to one another. By facing new challenges in the years to come, I hope we will continue to grow as a family. I am blessed beyond measure to be your mother.”
