Tragic Details About Octomom Natalie Suleman's Life

From Elon Musk to Mia Farrow and Eddie Murphy, some celebrities have a lot more kids than you may realize. But few can hold a candle to Natalie Suleman, also known as Octomom. Unlike what her media-dubbed nickname would suggest, the media personality, who used to go by the name Nadya, is actually a mother to 14 children. Although she had six children already after undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF), she wanted one more — but that one baby ended up being eight. With such sudden notoriety, Suleman became the "poster person for mommy shaming," as she told E! News in March 2025.

"Octomom was conceived by the media," she explained, saying "this caricature" the public perceived her to be was "the polar opposite of my true character." Although Suleman made some of her misfortunes known over the years, she's been much more open in regard to the devastating circumstances that have befallen her and her children now that her octuplets are nearly grown up. From her failed relationship to the media circus that followed her pregnancy and her struggle to support her children, here are the tragic details about "Octomom" Natalie Suleman's life.

Unlike her many children, Natalie Suleman grew up as an only child. She has a close relationship with her father Edward, a chef and translator for the military, but a bond with her mother, a teacher, wasn't as easily achieved. "It's not enough to say I wanted a big family because I was lonely," Suleman told People in March 2025, following the premiere of her new Lifetime docuseries "Confessions of Octomom." She added, "There is an amalgamation of factors as to why I wanted kids, to create maybe a safe and predictable little world that I lacked growing up."

It was her relationship with her parents, too, that drove the mother of 14 to get married in 1996. Suleman identifies as asexual, but she had wanted "to pacify my very old-fashioned Middle Eastern family and just to fit in," so she married Marcos Gutierrez. There are many possible reasons why a marriage might fail, from infidelity to communication problems, but tying the knot to appease her family is certainly a sign the relationship was doomed before the start.

The couple split up in 2000, a year before Suleman's eldest child was born, and they officially divorced in 2006. In speaking about her ex-husband on the premiere episode of her docuseries (via "Today"), she explained, "We never consummated the marriage. That was not a real marriage."

In 1997, long before she was scrambling to raise her many children single-handedly, Natalie Suleman worked at the Metropolitan State Hospital as a psychiatric technician. Unfortunately, in September 1999, she suffered a herniated disc in her back when a patient threw a desk at her during a riot. The injury eventually forced Suleman to go onto disability benefits, during which time she experienced worsened back problems, in part due to her multiple pregnancies.

Although she's experienced severe back pain over the years, Octomom is fortunately able to stay active. In a June 2023 Instagram post, Suleman explained why she lifts weights as part of her workout regimen. "As a repercussion of the [octuplet] pregnancy, I sustained three more herniated discs ... bilateral sciatica; damaged sacrum and peripheral neuropathy," she wrote. "[A]nd a torn abdominal cavity to top it off." But Suleman says she's able to ward off some of the discomfort thanks to her active lifestyle.

When news broke that a mother of six was due to give birth to seven more babies (her eighth was a surprise in the delivery room), Natalie Suleman was vilified by the press for being irresponsible. How could she manage to care for all her kids as a single mother? But this wasn't exactly how she'd envisioned things going when she began her fertility treatments.

Suleman had previously struggled to conceive due to complications caused by endometriosis, so she saved up her money and underwent IVF. After having her first six kids, she wanted just one more child, so she visited her fertility doctor, Michael Kamrava. Typically, the practice involves implanting no more than two embryos, and the chances of having multiple babies when undergoing IVF are somewhere between 20% and 30%. Suleman's doctor routinely used six embryos due to her medical complications, but this time, he implanted 12 — a decision that eventually led to Kamrava having his medical license revoked.

"I wasn't aware that that was happening," Suleman told People. "I was sedated on the table." She said she does regret not suing her doctor at the time, as the money would've been helpful. However, Suleman added, "I wouldn't have had any of my kids if it weren't for him."

While the paparazzi and gossip columns are known to be incredibly invasive of celebrities' privacy, many stars haven't been able to trust their medical providers either. HIPAA laws are in place to protect a patient's health information, but there have been a number of instances of violations over the years, including for Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian, and Michael Jackson. Sadly, when Natalie Suleman gave birth to her octuplets in 2009, the media violated her privacy, as did a number of medical professionals.

Fifteen hospital employees were fired and eight were disciplined for reviewing Suleman's personal medical records without cause. But in addition to the serious HIPAA violation, the hospital forced Octomom to hire a PR manager. "You have no choice," Suleman recalled them telling her while speaking with "Today" in March 2025. The staff provided her with a list of managers to choose from and forced her to submit to an interview before she was allowed to see her children. "In retrospect, I would have refused," Suleman said. "I didn't even know I had that right as a patient to refuse. I wish I had some legal assistance at that time."

There's no question how people felt about Natalie Suleman's decision to have eight babies as a single, unemployed mother. It isn't the only time the public turned on someone for having "too many" children (just look at the tragedy Kate Gosselin has endured). In January 2009, Suleman saw the arrival of Noah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Josiah, Makai, Maliyah, and Nariyah. It should've been a happy time for the family of 15, and while the public scrutiny was a lot for Suleman to deal with, things quickly escalated from bad to worse.

"In the beginning, it was an unbelievable pandemonium," she said of the harsh criticism during her March 2025 People interview. Some of which, tragically, even included death threats. "I was fighting for my survival." The threats became so intense that Suleman's PR firm Killeen Furtney Group quit when they became targeted by frightening emails and voicemails. As publicist Joann Killeen told CBS News in February 2009, "They'd put me in the wood chipper and throw me in the bottom of the ocean and hope I die." Fortunately for Suleman, she landed agent Wes Yoder, who had previously worked with a couple who had septuplets in 1997, so it seemed she was at least in good hands.

If you've not yet had children, there are many things you may wish to know before becoming a parent. Even though Natalie Suleman was already a mother six times over before she had her octuplets, she likely couldn't have fathomed the work that would be necessary to raise her newborns while still caring for her other kids. One aspect of this, of course, was the financial burden. But as she told "Today" in February 2009, "I know I'll be able to afford them when I'm done with my schooling." Suleman explained that despite having 14 children, she had plans to return to college and get her master's degree in counseling. She hoped this would bring in a higher salary to help support her kids, she said.

But the other major impact Suleman's babies had on her life was complete and total exhaustion. "I don't get much sleep," Suleman told People in January 2010, a year after her eight babies were born. "About two or three hours a night." Fortunately, she relied on the help of three nannies, though she was concerned about how the extra help might impact her ability to bond with her kids. "I need the help of my nannies, but I don't want my children being raised in something that resembles a group home," Suleman remarked.

Public scrutiny and death threats are one thing, and they can lead victims to fear for their lives. Sadly, things took a turn for Natalie Suleman when she became the victim of vandalism just a couple of months after giving birth to her octuplets. Her home and front yard were covered in toilet paper in March 2009, and just a couple of weeks later, someone threw a car seat through the rear window of her minivan. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the threat of violence was suddenly very real.

Many years later, in August 2017, a similar incident occurred in which the window of Octomom's minivan was broken again. This time, the vandal allegedly left a note that read: "Leave California or you will die."

Things seemed to hit a boiling point for Suleman in August 2019, who detailed the repeated harassment and vandalism in an Instagram post aimed at setting "strong boundaries" with the "self righteous bullies" who had been pestering her family. She listed "[s]lashing my vans tires (within months of moving in), breaking my back headlights (an open police investigation ensues), pouring coffee all over my vehicle, leaving unwanted discriminatory notes on my van and property (still ongoing), and relentlessly filming my children" as just some of the abuse she and her children had endured.

According to LendingTree's 2024 Household Financial Insecurity Report, more than one-third of American families struggle to make ends meet. Given that the majority of households don't have as many children as Natalie Suleman, her financial difficulties aren't all that surprising. Sadly, in April 2012, she was forced to file bankruptcy because court documents revealed she was up to $1 million in debt. Octomom opted to file Chapter 7, meaning her assets were liquidated by a trustee in order to pay back those she owed — but it turned out she only held $50,000 in assets, leaving her hundreds of thousands of dollars in the red.

In an email sent to The Orange County Register in May 2012 via her manager, Suleman said, "I have had to make some very difficult decisions this year, and filing Chapter 7 was one of them." But she acknowledged the decision was necessary to take care of her 14 kids. "I have to do what is best for my children, and I need a fresh start," she added.

Depending on your specific situation, newborn babies are estimated to add up to $23,000 in expenses to your budget in their first year. Multiply that number by eight, not including her other six children, and you can see why Natalie Suleman was in dire straits. But given that she was a hot commodity in the media, she knew she could take advantage of the attention — even if it was predominantly negative.

"I've never wanted fame," Suleman told People in March 2025. "That's [the] No. 1 biggest misconception ever." Octomom did what she had to do to keep her family of 15 afloat, including signing on for a reality show that would ensure each of her kids was paid $250 a day. Suleman also did numerous paid interviews and photo opportunities and worked as both an exotic dancer and an adult film star. "I did whatever I needed to do to make ends meet. And that was shaming myself, sacrificing my integrity," she added. "The life I was leading was not only destructive, it was dark. It was the antithesis of who I am as a person."

Four years of struggling to make ends meet coupled with the frequent condemnation from the public finally became too much for Natalie Suleman. She knew she couldn't carry on the way she had, so in October 2012, she checked herself into a rehabilitation center for stress and anxiety. Suleman left her octuplets and six older children in the care of nannies and friends, and when she was discharged, they all disappeared from the spotlight.

"I finally was able to escape all of that — the attack, it felt, from the world, that global scorn and condemnation, being the target of misplaced hate — and go back to the life I had known before," Octomom told People during her interview in March 2025. It was crucial to take time away and let herself (and more importantly, her children) experience a sense of normalcy. Suleman returned to work as a counselor, as she added, "Having a positive impact on people's lives gave me a sense of joy."

They all remained out of the public eye for a number of years, leading many to wonder what Octomom and her kids look like today. But finally, in 2025, Suleman decided it was time to make a comeback. By starring in the Lifetime docuseries "Confessions of Octomom" and appearing as the subject of the biopic "I Was Octomom," she explained that she and her children can now tell their side of things. "My family and I are taking our life back," Suleman said.

Even after taking a step away from the spotlight, Natalie Suleman couldn't entirely escape the press. Back in January 2013, she had applied for public assistance to help pay all the expenses that had come with having 14 children. However, Suleman was also working as an exotic dancer and adult film star around this time and failed to report $30,000 in earnings while she was receiving benefits. Octomom was charged with welfare fraud and faced up to six years and four months in jail, but after pleading no contest, she scraped by with a sentence of two years probation, 200 hours of community service, and a repayment of $26,000 in restitution.

"We were always struggling financially, but in 2013, that was more than ever," Suleman told People. "I went right back to my old profession as a therapist working 40 hours a week." Unfortunately, this run-in with the law left the media personality with yet another label that stuck — and undoubtedly assured her in her decision to stay out of the spotlight. "For years I was typecast as the welfare recipient, unemployed mother, all of which is wrong," Suleman said.

There's little doubt that being a single mother is more than many people could manage. Although she had wanted a large family to begin with, Natalie Suleman calls raising her kids an "all-consuming" task. "When you think about one child, two children, four, they take all your energy," she said during her conversation with People. "And when it's 14 kids, they all have different needs." Suleman had already welcomed Elijah, Amerah, and Joshua to the world, all through the use of IVF, when she had Aidan, her third son, who is autistic and nonverbal.

"I've been his sole [caretaker] since birth," she continued. "He monopolizes the majority of my time and energy." Suleman said that when Aidan was younger and the octuplets were born, he was similar to them developmentally. But now that he's gotten bigger, Aidan needs much more of his mother's time and attention. "He's like a full-time job for four people," Suleman, who left her job in 2018 to care for her son, said. Aidan attends a special needs school during the day but relies entirely on his mother for feeding, changing, bathing, and round-the-clock supervision when he's at home. Fortunately, "The kids all look out for him," Suleman added.

As difficult as it's been for Natalie Suleman, it's hard not to feel at least a little sorry for her kids, too. Not only did her elder children's lives change dramatically when the octuplets were born, but they were all thrust into the spotlight and made into a media spectacle. Suleman shared an Instagram post in May 2022 in honor of her eldest child Elijah's 21st birthday. "You were only seven years old when your eight siblings were born," she wrote in the caption, describing how his life had changed practically overnight. "Not only was my heavy heart saddened by the sudden change in your life, but my parenting [was] deeply driven by guilt," Suleman expressed.

During an episode of "Confessions of Octomom," (via People) it was revealed how much chaos consumed her children's lives, including Elijah, who was visited by Child Protective Services one day at school. Suleman described her eldest son's behavior as "out of control" when the octuplets were born because he began breaking things and vandalizing their home. "He was catapulted into the public eye with me, and then, due to that trauma, of course, he was acting out," Suleman explained. "All sense of normalcy was ripped out from under him." Elijah described his behavior at this time as "rebellious" and "mean," adding, "I just kind of learned to adjust [by telling myself], 'It is what it is.'"