Nadya Suleman: What happened to Octomom and where is she now? | Explainer

For a time, you couldn’t turn on the television or go to a newsagency without seeing Nadya Suleman‘s face.

If you passed her on the street, however, you would never know you’d just run into one of the most recognisable names of the past two decades.

In 2009, Suleman gave birth to octuplets and soon became known to the world as Octomom, but in 2013 she stepped away from the spotlight to protect her children, their privacy and her own mental health.

Now when she leaves the house, she makes sure she’s completely unrecognisable.

READ MORE: Ugly truth saw singer’s wildest dreams come crashing down

In her new docuseries Confessions of Octomom, which aims to shine a light on her side of the story, the mum of 14 shared that she’s always been conscious of sun damage to her skin, but that’s not the only reason she covers up.

”It for sure this is helps with my social anxiety,” she said wearing a long sleeve shirt, fingerless gloves, a neck guard and sun hat that covers her entire face leaving just a slit for her eyes, which she disguises with a pair of sunglasses.

“Nobody knows [who I am], they look and they look away. It doesn’t like draw any attention because people don’t want to look and stare.”

Back in 2009, Suleman was dubbed Octomom after she was implanted with 12 embryos and gave birth to the world’s first surviving octuplets.

Unemployed at the time of their birth and already providing for her other six children, Suleman used her newfound celebrity status to support her family.

But as interest died off, things become dire for Suleman, forcing her to turn to alternate ways to support her family.

The baby name trend that’s not just for celebrities anymore

Eventually, the hate she received became too much and she decided to leave her celebrity status behind, opting for a more private life for her and her 14 kids.

Now, Suleman is ready to tell her side of the story, with the first two episodes of her four-part docuseries available to watch now on Apple TV+.

But before diving into that, lets take a look at Octomom’s history in the spotlight, and what drove her to share her story now.

READ MORE: ‘Curse’ that clouds singer’s relationships with other stars

Who is Nadya Suleman?

There’s two sides of the story when it comes to how Nadya Suleman became Octomom.

What we do know for sure is that prior to becoming a mum, Suleman worked at a mental hospital.

During a patient riot one day, she injured her back and decided to use some of her disability payments to afford IVF treatments.

Before giving birth to her octuplets, Suleman was already mum to six children whom she’d welcomed via IVF, Amerah, Calyssa, Elijah, Caleb, Joshua and Aiden.

Now, here’s where things get sticky.

Dr. Michael Kamrava had previously worked with Suleman to perform in-vitro fetilisation to help her welcome her first six children.

She worked with that same doctor to welcome her octuplets, however, in a 2018 interview with The New York Times, Suleman claims she had only wanted to have twins and that she was “misled by my doctor”.

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

According to Suleman, Kamrava pressured her to consent to implanting 12 embryos simultaneously while she was under the influence of narcotics and on a gurney.

“He told me we lost six embryos, he said they were expelled out of me, and that’s why he wanted to implant another six,” she said.

Kamrava, however, has claimed that it was quite the opposite, with Suleman pressuring him to implant the extra embryos against his advice, with a childhood friend of his backing up his side of the story in The New York Times interview.

In June 2011, more than two years after the birth of the octuplets, Reuters reported that Kamrava’s medical license had been suspended by the state of California’s medical board whom accused him of “gross negligence in Suleman’s case as well as two other patients.

Before giving birth, Suleman was told she was only carrying seven children, however in her new docuseries, she shares that her “mother’s intuition” told her that that wasn’t true.

”I kept asking. I keep reiterating over and over, ‘Are you certain there’s not an eighth?’ and [the ultrasound technician] said, ‘Absolutely not. I’m a very skilled ultrasound technician. If there were eight, I’d see them’,” she shared.

Surprisingly, she said her pregnancy came without any complications.

Suleman went into labor at 31 weeks on January 26, 2009. It reportedly took 46 doctors and nurses to perform a C-section.

Despite her babies being born underweight all eight survived. Suleman made headlines as the mum to the first ever surviving set of octuplets and within a week became known to the world as Octomom.

READ MORE: ’I don’t want to vilify anyone’: Star snubbed on biggest stage in the world

Within a month of the octuplets’ birth, Suleman realised that she’d been given a unique opportunity to capitalise on her newfound fame.

In February, she did a TV interview with Ann Curry and in March she appeared on Dr. Phil.

The next year she was featured in the February 2010 issue of Star magazine, followed by an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

But rather than focusing on her role as a devoted mother, it seemed the media’s intention at the time was instead to tear Suleman down.

The best autumn-inspired names for your baby boy or girl

She was constantly berated with questions on her weight loss since delivering her octuplets, plastic surgery allegations (which she denied) and whether or not it was selfish of her to have so many children to care for.

There were several parodies made of her story designed to make fun of Suleman and her family, including a 2009 musical performed in Los Angeles.

She continued to deny any claims that she had spent money on cosmetic surgeries whilst also being accused of neglecting her children, and a visit paid by social workers to her home deemed that the children weren’t in danger and should not be removed – despite wide spread calls from the public.

READ MORE: ’You can always blame me’: King’s hilarious exchange with student

Eventually, the mainstream media got bored of the story, forcing Suleman to turn to alternate ways to support her family of 14.

She worked as a stripper, appeared on Celebrity Boxing, posed semi-nude for a UK magazine, released a single and starred in an adult film to try make ends meet.

In 2012, The Los Angeles Times reported that Suleman filed for bankruptcy after her home was foreclosed, claiming $50,000 in assets and $1 million in debt.

It wasn’t long after that Suleman and her family disappeared from the public eye.

Where is Octomom now?

In 2014, Suleman was charged with welfare fraud after failing to report $26,000 of income she earned in 2013.

CNN reported that she was sentenced to two years of probation, 200 hours of community service and had to pay back the $26,000 in restitution.

It wasn’t until 2018 that she reemerged in an attempt to share her side of the story.

In her interview with The New York Times, Suleman revealed that she was now working full time as a counsellor, and claimed that she had “PTSD from all the reporters coming over the years”.

“I would take whatever I could back in the days, and I would let them in. I was spiraling down a dark hole. There were no healthy opportunities for Octomom,” she said.

“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.

”Octomom was media created. I believe most media is filtered and fake. They created this caricature.”

READ MORE: ‘Curse’ that clouds singer’s relationships with other stars

The surnames that are second life as first names for boys and girls

Although it was the most candid interview Suleman had been able to give since the birth of her octuplets, the publication claimed that “her answers kept zigzagging” and Suleman was once again crucified in the public eye.

For years, she went back to her private life, beginning to cover up from head to toe when she left the house to avoid being recognised.

Suleman’s octuplets are now 16 years old, having celebrated their birthday on January 26, 2025.

“Happy Sweet 16th birthday to Noah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Maliyah, Jeremiah, Josiah, Jonah, and Makai! You are loved, valued, and appreciated more than words can express!” Suleman wrote on Instagram.

“I am so blessed to have you all in my life.”

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.

Celebrity parents who gave their babies perfectly matching names

The family now live with their two cats in a three-bedroom townhouse in Orange County, California, just one hour south of Los Angeles. 

Most of Suleman’s time is spent at home with her kids, who all do their part helping to cook vegan food for the family and do chores around the house. 

Because of her back injury, Suleman also spends plenty of time exercising to try and manage her chronic pain as well as relieve stress. 

READ MORE: Meghan ‘underestimated in terms of her influence’

In an Instagram post shared in September 2024, she announced that she was now officially a grandmother sharing that her son Joshua had welcomed a daughter.

Now, more than a decade after choosing to lead a more public life Suleman has returned to our screens, but this time she’s done it her way. 

Along with her new docuseries, Suleman has spoken candidly with several US publications sharing an insight into her life.

Suleman has answered some of the world’s most asked questions including how much she spends on her weekly groceries, how it felt being thrust into the spotlight so soon after giving birth, and the question that’s been on everyone’s lips the last 16 years, does she have any regrets? 

“I do regret not suing the infertility doctor. I definitely regret that because his insurance would’ve been the one paying, and it would’ve been some millions, and it would’ve been helpful for my family,” she said in a new interview with People.

“I regret that I kind of threw myself under the bus to cover for him, and I shouldn’t have but I was grateful,” she explained.

“I wouldn’t have had any of my kids if it weren’t for his innovative technique. No one else in the world did this type of procedure so I didn’t have it in my heart to sue him.”

Nine Entertainment Co (the publisher of this website) owns and operates the streaming service Stan.