Remember Mom Who Gave Birth to Octuplets in 2009? Check Out Her and Kids 10 Years Later

(Toby Canham/Getty Images)

From the archives: This story was last updated in May 2019.

Originally criticized by the media for being an “irresponsible” single mom, Octomom, Natalie Suleman, is now ready to prove them wrong. In 2009, she became the most famous mother to give birth to octuplets, and all eight of them turned 10 this year.

The single mother of 14 kids—she has six older teens in addition to “the eight”—takes care of her brood in a small three-bedroom townhouse outside of Los Angeles. Each 10-year-old performs their own job, dishes, laundry, and so on in order to help Mom manage the house. There is just one kitchen table. They eat meals in shifts.

(Toby Canham/Getty Images)

After an IVF pregnancy and giving birth in 2009 via cesarean, Suleman made headlines, and a persona took shape. She tried to cash in on her new fame in order to make ends meet, which led to a short-lived adult film and stripping career when money ran out.

The “caricature” that began to shape Suleman’s life, created by the media she says, led her into a downward spiral. Suleman turned desperate. After forming a prescription-drug addiction that could have killed her, she saw how her lifestyle was rubbing off on her kids in a bad way, and this led to her decision to “kill” Octomom for good.

Now, 10 years on, Suleman finally feels like she can relax and be “herself.” She isn’t the monster or the circus sideshow that she was made out to be.

Suleman works as a counselor for troubled women but also does “international photoshoots” to help make ends meet. In an interview with Inside Edition, Suleman admits that there is “financial hardship” but that her children are her “greatest joy,” her “literal angels,” and that she can’t imagine life without them.

Life at home, meanwhile, could be summed up as something like “happy chaos.” Their day begins with a carpool in a beat-up Ford E-350 van that Suleman calls the “dump truck.” In the evenings, it’s chores and homework until bed, where space is so tight that some kids sleep on the couch. And on weekends, there are outings, TV, and vegan junk food.

The Octomom is also quite active on social media and posts regularly on the kids. Besides, she and her kids are physically very active, and Suleman posts about the work out on Instagram.

Two of her kids also spoke to the New York Times about their upbringing. “Some of my friends don’t have any siblings, so they want to know what it’s like,” Joshua said. “It’s nice to have someone to play with, but it can be overwhelming at times.”

While Amerah added, “She’s been fighting for our family for 10 years now.”

“The eight,” as the family call them, are currently in fourth grade. They are polite, cook, read books, and do their homework without being asked, according to the New York Times. It looks like she’s proven everyone wrong. And judging by her eight, it looks like Mom is doing something right.

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