Having Big Dreams
Nadya Suleman grew up as an only child. She was born to an Iraqi immigrant father and Lithuanian immigrant mother. Circumstantially, she craved for attention from other people due to her lack of siblings growing up. Since then, it has also been her biggest dream to one day start her own big family with such deep connections. What she didn’t know was that in her pursuit of building a family, something unexpected or of that degree would flip her life upside down. It was an event no one could foresee, and one that would prove both miraculous and contentious.
The Journey Towards Motherhood
Nadya Suleman’s journey toward motherhood began shortly after she graduated from high school in Southern California, where she was raised. As a young, single woman, she embarked on her quest to start a family, while women of her age planned to go to college to get a degree. For Nadya, the call to become a mother has always been so great that she had to quickly get started on it. Indeed, the young and naïve Nadya would get what she wanted – big time. So, they say be careful of what you wish for, but it’s how she got her biggest dream that would baffle the world.
Her First Love
Nadya, in her early twenties, met a produce manager named Marcos Gutierrez. Instantaneously, she felt an instant, deep, and meaningful connection with Gutierrez, and probably mainly credits to his charming personality. Eventually, they fell very deeply in love despite the clear notion that having children was her utmost focus. At first, having children didn’t seem to become an issue as Gutierrez was equally as interested in becoming a father to her children. But as time passed, there wasn’t even the slightest chance that she and Marcos Gutierrez would have children together.
Hazardous Job
In the year Nadya Suleman and Marcos Gutierrez got married, she also earned the credit of a licensed psychiatric technician from Mt. San Antonio College. So she began working at Metropolitan State Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Norwalk, California. Her work with mentally troubled patients may be rewarding, but it is far from being a simple task. Later on, her work proved to be a strenuous one that her family life, being her primary purpose, took the backseat as a meaningful career has always been a part of her plan as well. Unfortunately, something happened at that facility that would set the rest of her life off on a roller-coaster ride.
Job Incident
On September 18, 1999, Nadya found herself in the middle of a riot that struck the psychiatric facility where she worked. Twenty patients started the uprising, and Nadya dutiful intervened, but while in the chaos, one of the female patients flipped over a wooden desk, which landed right on her back. She suffered an injury of a herniated disc as a result and earned $170,000 when she filed for workers’ compensation benefit. The benefit she received was enough for her to get by, and it was the last thing that concerned her at that time. Good insurance coverage helps a lot, especially in circumstances such as what happened to Nadya.
Postponed Dreams
Nadya’s ability to work has been dramatically affected by her work-induced injury to the degree that it has caused her a great deal of distress and physical pain. Though she continues to be paid well at work, there was a more significant issue at hand. She faced a grappling challenge that threatened her legacy. It has already been three full years that she and her husband have actively been working out to fulfill her dream of starting a family, but somehow, despite their efforts, nothing seems to be working. Their next step was to find out what’s going on, and a trip to the doctor’s clinic is a must.
The Bad News
Nadya and Marcos visited several doctors in hopes of getting tips on how to better conceive. They were so determined to be pregnant to the degree that they followed religiously every necessary step instructed by different doctors. But even after all that, they still had to luck. The frustration of failure after failure got the better of Nadya, and she began to feel depressed. It was later that they found out that it was all because Gutierrez was simply sterile. What happened next was a thorough discussion of other ways around it.
Separation
Nadya’s desire to have kids was just so great that she pressed the issue with her husband. She was so prepared to look into alternatives and go through it even. Her husband didn’t agree. The difference in their feelings toward the matter started to drive them apart. The last straw for Marcos came when Nadya suggested the method of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure through which an egg is fertilized outside of the body, usually in a test tube. Their view on this method was so different to the degree that Marcus threatened separation if she pushed for it.
Hard Decisions
The whole ordeal has placed Nadya in a dilemma of choosing between her love for her husband and her lifelong dream of having kids. So, she knew what she had to risk for her dream. In 2002, she ultimately decided to pursue the call of raising a family to the degree that she ended her marriage with Marcos Gutierrez and finally went through IVF. Being newly divorced, she was excited, but things didn’t go exactly as planned.
Nothing Comes Free
Vitro fertilization has become increasingly popular as of late, and contrary to what others think, its process isn’t that complicated at all. However, it also hasn’t shown a 100%-successful rate as promising as this alternative sounds. One of the main reasons why most people don’t necessarily go for this alternative is because this procedure can be expensive and quite extensive also. None of these things, however, phased Nadya Suleman, who had already grown tired of failure after all the work they have done and the massive toll on her credit card expenses from the whole ordeal. Although several eggs have already been used during IVF, as recommended by Medical experts, none of them have succeeded in the process. Because of that, the procedure involved another risk, one that would turn out to be particularly relevant to Nadya Suleman’s case. So, would she be willing to take it?
Risk-worthy
The IVF procedure for using multiple eggs is something that should be considered multiple times. As the possibility of having more than one baby could happen, and it could be one that Nadya Suleman would be unprepared for. But the idea of having more babies didn’t shake her at all or how it could be medically costly to the point of bankruptcy. She welcomed the thought as if it was a great option. However, some might argue that perhaps the possibility of having multiple children should have scared her at least a little. But at this point, she had no idea what was about to come.
Baby Elijah
Not everyone thinks that becoming pregnant with more than one child is considered a risk for there are people who are hopeful of getting twins or triplets. For them, the procedure can be a useful tool, and Nadya Suleman wasn’t necessarily expecting anything to that degree. The results of her IVF procedure, however, showed possibilities. In 2001, her operation went successful, and Nadya was more than ready to welcome her first baby boy, which she named Elijah. After many years of struggling to get to her dream, she was finally at the point of realizing it. For her, though, one baby is not enough.
More Babies
Then, a year after her first child was born, Nadya had a daughter named Amerah. The IVF worked so well with her, and with her dreams finally taking place, she wanted more. So she continued with her treatments, and after enough time, she tried once more, ending up with her first fraternal twins after her baby girl. Her investment in this procedure was worth it as she had two more after the first set of twins, giving her a total of six children. In developed countries, having six children is considered more than enough. But with Nadya, it wasn’t.
Zero-waste
In 2008, still a single mom and with six already nationally known children through IVF, she once more went for another treatment. Her medical physician, Dr. Michael Kamrava, who has overseen all her previous procedures, is about to be credited again for implanting six of Nadya’s remaining frozen eggs at her insistence. Nadya cannot stand wasting her frozen embryos being the pro-lifer she is, and it has become so important to her that they all be used. And so all six were implanted – and there’s more!
And More Babies
Of course, after seeing all that Nadya went through in the past five successful procedures, not including the failed ones, Dr. Michael Kamrava was hesitant to comply at first. But with Nadya’s persistence and her firm decision to not waste any of the frozen embryos under any circumstances, even if it meant having multiple babies for her, Dr. Kamrava conceded. But the part that many found most baffling about this story is how Nadya went even further to the degree of injecting not only six but twelve eggs in total— making it ten more than the recommended maximum of two! But Nadya was prepared for any result from such a radical move.
Octuplets On The Way
Dr. Michael Kamrava’s degree of the unprecedented and radical move of implanting such a high number of embryos was a departure from standard medical-community practice. Still, Nadya Suleman didn’t regret it one bit. She was even more excited about it, contrary to how others would surely be terrified of it. As it turned out, eight of the twelve embryos stuck, so Nadya became pregnant with eight children at once. It’s incredible how one person can push herself beyond her physical limit. In Nadya’s case, she could handle giving birth to more babies than normal. Public eyes central question: Was Nadya Suleman physically able to give birth to eight babies at once, after already having done it six times before?
‘Octomom’
Nine months into Nadya Suleman’s Octo-pregnancy certainly took a toll on her body. With eight babies she’s carrying all at once, clearly far more than the average woman could handle, it’s hard to say can do it all on your own. Nadya’s journey is unique and totally out of the ordinary. This is why it’s not surprising for the media to get caught onto the story fairly quickly. Of course, with her feat, Nadya became a viral sensation, and that’s how she got her nickname, “Octomom.” Nadya’s pregnancy turned out to be her record-breaking credit, one with implications for the rest of her life, which is why the media love to follow her story and see how her journey turned out for her.
Successful Delivery
From the success of being able to have eight embryos successfully develop and grow in her then carrying them for the full nine months, all eight babies in each phase was already a feat not all women can achieve. But to successfully deliver all eight babies safely and healthily with no defect is another achievement! It was a sight to behold, and the whole world did. Nadya Suleman earned credit for being the first-ever mom to deliver alive a set of octuplets even one week after their birth. One can only imagine her joy in holding her eight babies and the excitement of introducing them to their six other siblings. The watching world, though, is not the one to watch. There loomed to be more questions.
All Cameras On Octomom
Shortly after she gave birth to eight adorable babies, with the media closely following her incredible journey, it has also captivated the attention of the medical community. Doctors from all over were trying to get a piece of her story and studied her case. It wasn’t widely known yet that Dr. Kamrava was the one who had walked Nadya through IVF. Credit is given to him who was a huge part of Nadya’s success in realizing her dreams of building a big family of her own. Her story, which is a tangible testimony of how a woman’s body was physically capable of handling such a difficult and risky procedure and pregnancy was a subject of great interest. Questions such as how was she able to successfully give birth to eight kids at once or how was she able to do the impossible abounded, the reason for researchers to go back to the beginning of Nadya Suleman’s case and figure out how she became pregnant in the first place.
Medical Malpractice
In the long run, the world discovered about the dozen embryos implanted into Nadya Suleman. With the world closely following her story and the whole medical community keeping an eye on her case, they finally got at the bottom of how she was able to make it happen. And even though Nadya had explicitly asked to be given the embryos and expressed a desire for many children, Dr. Michael Kamrava’s discretion to grant her request angered many to the degree that it caused a social media uproar. Hence, the reason for him to be subjected to an open investigation. After a series of questioning, it was concluded that he has acted on to “repeated negligent acts” which led to the eventual revocation of his medical license as his participation with Nadya Suleman’s case led to further questions such as, was it the first time?
Not the first time he did it
With people displeased over the situation, their attention wasn’t just on Octomom but also shifted to Dr. Kamrava, who helped make it happen for her. It turns out that it wasn’t the first time that he implanted embryos more than he should. In the past, he has also reportedly injected embryos that resulted in a 48-year old patient to give birth to quadruplets but not to the degree of success Nadya Suleman had who was able to deliver all eight babies alive and healthy.
Being a media sensation
Nadya Sulman was already a media sensation long before the octuplets were born. So you can imagine how local to international newspapers, websites, and news channels swarmed her when they heard about her octuplet pregnancy. Now, the entire nation recognizes her face, although not everyone knows her real name since everyone remembers her as Octomom. With her social media popularity, Nadya planned to capitalize on it and attempted to control her story and make sure she’s shown in a positive light. So, after recovering from giving birth, she hired a lawyer public relations team to welcome the media into her life. It proved harder than she’d expected, though.
Her all-consuming persona
Nadya Suleman’s pregnancy became a state controversy in California, with people assailing her for embodying taxpayer waste, irresponsibility, and everything wrong with contemporary American society. She is also accused of wanting media attention all along – the reason she even had all those children. She was accused of doing everything for fame and money. For Nadya though, she had to balance her Octomom persona with being a mom to all her 14 children while filtering media hold over their affairs. Over time, her persona began to consume her, and, to some degree, she couldn’t separate herself from it.
All the weight on her
Indeed, the media circus started to get out of hand as soon as it began. Her seeming embrace of the media attention she was receiving led many to the skepticism of Octomom. And all she wanted was just for her to get her story out and never to the degree of exposing her life to such scrutiny. With her mommy duties at hand, she failed to get ahead of narratives the media releases to the public. Hence, she made a more drastic measure to get her side of the story out when she finally got an opportunity to open up about her struggles through an interview with People magazine. In the interview, Nadia Suleman reacted to the public caricature of her and shared how she gets only two to three hours of sleep a night and how she tries her best to move forward in life and be the best mother she can be.
Low point
Still a subject of national interest even years after giving birth, America couldn’t get enough of Octomom and her children. But the media spotlight was starting to bring Nadya down to the degree that it harmed her ability to raise her kids. Multiple reports had it that Octomom had reached a low point in her life. With 14 children to raise, she was left to no choice but to accept welfare, and it seemed like it was her against the world. At that point, she may have many babies, but she never felt more alone. Soon enough, she faced a challenge no government assistance alone can solve.
Home troubles
With relentless media coverage and national scrutiny, rumors started about Nadya Suleman mistreating her children. Some alerted Child Protective Services to look into whether Octomom was neglecting her children. However, when they arrived and investigated Suleman’s property, the rumors were concluded as unfounded and that her home was perfectly suitable for children, complete with all necessary home security measures. But someone else who had the power to change Octomom’s life strongly disagreed with the claim.
Publicized eviction
Although Nadya’s home was already good enough for the Child Protective Services, someone relevant to their life didn’t think so. Apparently, her landlord accused her of violating her lease’s terms, as if she did something so grave to the degree that he took his issues to the media with threats of eviction. Nadya, on the other hand, aspires to be a good mother all her life, was on the verge of being homeless, and she just couldn’t let that happen. So, Octomom was driven to desperate measures to ensure her family had a home.
The Hassle
To Nadya Suleman’s horror, there was no convincing her landlord. So, she and the kids had to pack and get out. With numerous children, she had a hard time finding a place that would also fit her budget, not to mention the strenuous efforts of transferring home even with a moving company to help. Contrary to how the media packaged her in her private life, she was nothing short of a loving mother. She has always maintained her home, and that’s the real her. Now that she has to find another house, she had to start earning what was lacking. So, she eventually tried her luck in the film world and also tested other business ventures as well, including a short-lived music career.
A new start
Being in the spotlight certainly got to Nadya Suleman, and when she recognized it, she decided to depart from it. She knew she had to make some changes so she could be a better mother to her children and live a happier life. She started by changing her first name as a symbolic move for her. Now known as Natalie, she also finished her college degree. She then worked part-time as a family therapist.
Octuplets Today
Today, controversial octuplets of quasi-celebrity, now known as Natalie Suleman, are nine-year-old vegetarians and growing well. While most kids their age are craving chocolate milk and candy, these kids followed a vegan diet and loved it. Octomom believed it is also healthy that she has become a straightforward parent, open to her children about her journey. Such value, for her, is key in running her household and especially in raising her children. Aside from her quasi-celebrity credits, she has also become quite an influencer on Instagram under the account she created, the Solomon Family. The page also shares what she does as and how she gets by being an unemployed mother of 14.
A Guardian Angel
Already in her early 40s, Natalie Suleman’s life is finally back on track, and rid of any questionable job credits. In several interviews with news outlets, she recalled how a guardian angel gave her the strength to walk away from her seedy life. According to her, it was in February 2013, when she was still working in the film industry, a tall man walked into the club where she was at in Florida and walked straight to her, looked into her eyes, grabbed her arm, and told her gently but firmly “You don’t have to do this.” According to Natalie, the man repeated his words to her five times, and that was her watershed moment that changed her life forever. She said, “I knew I had to be my healthy self again.”
Acceptance
Since that memorable incident at the club, it has been such a major life overhaul for Natalie in 2013. She admitted how she was young, foolish and selfish to have brought so many children into the world without carefully thinking through the consequences it had, not only to her life but also to her children. However, in admitting so, she doesn’t regret one bit of it. Now, Natalie is seriously more focused on raising her kids. They are her number one priority, to the degree that she isn’t interested in looking for love and is content with leading a celibate lifestyle for the time being. Her social media pages show just how much she has changed, the incredible values she instills in all 14 of her kids, and their up to date activities.
A Modest Life
So far, Natalie Suleman is handling raising 14 children all pretty well. Her former two-bedroom apartment was recently converted into a three-bedroom one. As she was able to find a way to convert her bedroom into two rooms, the other being her office, and she no longer lived from paycheck to paycheck and food stamps. Finally, after all the hardships she endured in raising so many kids alone, Natalie told Daily Mail that she now feels freer and at peace. One way she spreads this peace is by sharing her story with other women in the hopes that it inspires them to make the right decisions for themselves and their children. What’s more, Natalie no longer likes to be referred to as “Octomom” to the degree that she wants to be cut off from that persona that almost destroyed her and her family life. But what does all this mean for the kids living with all this knowledge of the past?
No Social Life
Being a mother of 14, Natalie Suleman is as happy as ever. She enjoys every moment with her nine-year-old octuplets, Makai, Josiah, Isaiah, Jonah, Maliyah, Jeremiah, Nariyah, and Noah. Her other six older kids are Elijah (17), Amerah (16), Joshua (14), Aiden (12), and 11-year old twins Calyssa and Caleb. Natalie wants all her kids to be proud of her and the woman she has become. If she could help it, she didn’t want any of them to remember her persona as “Octomom,” which she forced to adopt for several years out of a need, she laments to Daily Mail. After overcoming all the trials and tribulations as a single mother of 14 trying to make ends meet, she is now happily taking her life back, being able to manage her family and household affairs with good money management. For her to provide a more stable upbringing for her kids, she moved back to Laguna in Orange County, the place where she grew up herself.
Live, Fight, Play
Being a hands-on mother, Natalie Suleman has absolutely no time for social life. And by being hands-on, it means she knows her 14 children very well. Natalie credits her usual nature as to how some of her kids became so much like her, shy and keeps to themselves, while others are more outgoing. She also shares about her 4th child, Aiden, who is autistic, yet the other siblings never once deterred from caring for their brother at all times. In fact, Aiden and Makai have an incredibly strong bond. Also, she went on how all her 14 kids are well aware that their home life is quite different from the average American household. She teaches them how it’s okay to be different, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Holiday Season Fun
Despite hardships and challenges Natalie Suleman’s family had to endure, they remain to be a happy family. Natalie teaches her children values and virtues by getting each just one gift for Christmas and the other holiday seasons. She believes that by getting her kids only one gift for all holidays, she is teaching them to value appreciate the blessing they received and what they have. She also believes this will teach them to learn to work for things they want and not expect gifts. Of course, this is beside Natalie’s financial situation as to why she is keeping things simple at home by applying good money management skills.
Schooling
Prepping 14 children for the annual first day of school is one thing, and preparing for school every weekday is another. But Natalie Suleman aced it from one kid to 13 more. She shared her anxiety on social media by posting a picture of her octuplets posing just before the school day sporting their smiles and with their satchels in tow. According to Natalie, school days take up most of her time as an official bus driver role for her kids – dropping off and picking up so many kids from at least three to four schools. Of course, she’s not complaining, as her kids’ education is one investment of time, effort and resources that must take place to set them for life. Not in the picture are her high schoolers, middle schoolers, and special child, Aiden, as they, most of the time, refuse to be taken a photo of, except on special occasions and for some family random moments.
De-Stressing
Being a mother to 14 kids is not an easy feat, so Natalie Suleman shares how she deals with all the pressure and stress that come with the role. One of her coping mechanisms is stealing an hour or two out of her busy schedule to work out at the gym. With her age and a big family to take care of, her personal health and fitness, she knows this is worth her effort and time investment. She would take to Instagram posts of her working out in the gym and explain in the status or caption how gym workouts and exercises help her cope with inordinate stress and significantly help her through many challenges.
Spa Night
To her kids, Natalie Suleman is considered strict. However, it doesn’t mean to the degree that she is no fun to be with. One of her best pastimes is enjoying a spa night with her daughters, which she documents a lot, showing all the new face masks, skin products, and fun they have together. Being a mother of 14 children, Natalie tries harder to give an equal amount of love and attention to all her children, compared to a parent of fewer size. So, whether it’s spa night-in with her girls or a movie night with the boys, Natalie makes sure that she’s all in and down for it. Her kids come first, and she’s proud to share that with the world.
The Dr. Oz Show
Last May 2018, Natalie Suleman was invited to have a chat on The Dr. Oz Show. She also was privileged to share her story about her IVF treatment and how she got to that point. She was able to share how she ended up with an octuplet. Natalie also told her story under the public’s critical eye and her evolution story from Nadya and “Octomom” to the happy and healthy dedicated mother she now is. She also took the opportunity to plug her social media accounts including their recently launched YouTube Channel which she shares with her kids and where she features her life as a doting mother of 14, referring to her team as the Solomon Family.
The Play of Genes
Having 14 kids will yield high chances of all your genes expressed in progeny. So if one ever wondered why he looks nothing like his siblings or to whom his looks credit from, that’s because genetics are pretty fascinating and tricky at the same time. It’s the luck of the draw some would say. As for Natalie Suleman, she calls this her diverse family and dichotomous genes. For a mother who adores every single one of her children, she feels blessed that they each look unique and inherited different genes. Take a look at these two kiddos over here, Nariyah and Noah who both came from the same set of octuplets.
Active Kiddos
Natalie Suleman’s octuplets are such active kiddos. In the picture is Natalie’s set of eight on the day that they completed the Russ Miller Memorial 5k race back in February 2018. All of them are raw vegans and love living a healthy life disputing the fact that meat could not take all the credit for all that energy in one’s body. In the picture, the public can see how they all love being a part of a worthy cause to raise money for incredible initiatives as this is one of the values and virtues, Natalie wants to instill in all her kids even at a very young age. Their participation in these initiatives shows how Natalie succeeded at it. They all look happy after finishing the race hand-in-hand, and this makes Natalie’s fans even happier. It turns out the kids have been up to so much more than just running races.
Kids of Substance
The octuplets aren’t only running races to raise money and awareness for important causes. They also work actively on school projects. These kids created these cool-looking projects in their school when they were instructed to create a poster of their heroes. But perhaps the best part of the photograph is Caleb’s photobomb. Natalie Suleman doesn’t like to boast or take the credit from her talented children, but her fans enjoy seeing what they get up to do. Natalie loves sharing these moments also to spread inspiration to anyone interested that raising 14 happy kids can be possible if they set it in their hearts. As proof of how her kids appreciate her dedication to them, they also prepare surprises for her.
Writing A Book
Being a supermom that she is all year round, what makes it all worth it for Natalie Suleman is the love she receives from her kids every day and on special days like Mother’s Day. She loves taking a snap of all the special cards and handmade gifts she receives from her kids. To her, it’s her children’s little things that make her feel so blessed. This is why, with Natalie’s experience of raising 14 kids on her own, one being autistic, inspired her to pursue her first book credit. In her book, she opens up about autism and how she has addressed this to her other healthy children. She is hoping to get the book published, which she initially started writing to jot down the challenges she faced.
Girlies
Out of her 14 kids, four of them are girls, and Natalie Suleman, to a huge degree, loves bonding time them. Despite the age differences, Amerah (16), Calyssa (11), and Maliah, and Nariyah (nine), she enjoys her imparting time with them. The following photo was taken on Amerah’s birthday. How the girls in the Solomon family resemble each other is just astounding, and this is truly a picture-perfect moment. Also, boy time and girl time is something Natalie tries to instill weekly, but of course, nothing beats times when all her kids hang out, which isn’t always possible as the older kids are starting to have engagements of their own.
Family Fun Nights
Also, something dear to Natalie Suleman’s heart is keeping with the family traditions, so that means the weekly Saturday family night is taken very seriously in their household. This tradition was created and agreed to by Natalie and her kids, and they call it “Family Fun Night.” Saturday nights are dedicated to spending some quality time together for the Solomon Family. Watching scary movies and documentaries, conducting educational and stimulating discussions, or playing board games together is but a glimpse of what their normal Saturday looks like. Some of their favorite activities are to watch The Shining and to play chess. The older four kids usually go out with friends and cringe at the tradition now that they are teens, but as it still stands, Natalie’s 10 youngest children love fun nights in with the fam. Surely this degree of family bonding cannot be replaced by fame, money or any other opportunities. The kids will look back and see how strong they are as a family.
School Plays
All Natalie Suleman’s kids are aware of how they are different from a normal American family. Still, the octuplets embrace their uniqueness and enjoy school and fun activities together, just like other children. Natalie is just proud to share with everyone how they are all very talented individuals. Here’s a picture of the octuplets posing beautifully for the camera as they enjoy their school role play credits in Orange County. The next picture, however, shows how chaotic family photo times can be, but even the failed pictures make for the best-captured memories.
Vegan Kiddos
Natalie Suleman shifted to becoming a vegan while at the pregnancy of her octuplets, she loved it and then decided to raise her next set under the same diet. While the older six kids are not vegan, the octuplets love their vegan diet so much to the degree that they are able to go raw which consists of health shakes, organic kale, chard, collard greens, bell peppers, and red or golden beets. They also love home-cooked vegan meals consisting of quinoa and sprouted lentils. While for their dessert, it usually consists of green apple with raw almond butter. It’s amazing how her octuplets were able to adapt to this lifestyle and also how Natalie is able to manage the different diets in her household. Converting to a vegan diet wasn’t so hard for Natalie as she grew up as an ethical vegetarian. Her diet change helped her deal with the medical conditions she endured from carrying octuplets to nearly eight months. This diet also made the family cheat/treat meals and nights all the more worth it and special.
Solomon Family
Capturing Natalie Suleman and all her 14 kids in one picture is also quite a feat, and another one is when they are able to snap a good shot where almost the whole clan is smiling and laughing away. Fortunately, Natalie is still able to capture some and share as many special family moments with the world as she can on her social media. However, what’s even more intriguing are the everyday, raw moments she shares that capture what it’s really like to be a single mother of 14, raising all of them as happy and healthy individuals – and for that, we have social media to credit.
YouTubing Away
Natalie Suleman thought it would be a great idea to start her own YouTube channel. Being a self-made part-time counselor set to help people suffering from substance abuse, she thought of sharing their family life through the channel in hopes of inspiring people. The first video she posted was a six-minute clip that started with her eldest daughter Amerah reading a letter she wrote to her for Mother’s Day at a women’s event in Long Beach, California. After Amerah’s speech, all her other 13 children lined up to give her their gift. According to Natalie, the channel is meant to share her life testimony. At the same time, she plans to include her kids in the credits managing it with fun activities, grocery shopping, vegan food challenges, and any creative ideas they come up with.
Thanksgiving Madness
For the Solomon Family, Thanksgivings are special moments that they should be active in making a difference in the world. In the picture are 10 out of her 14 kids who participated in the Turkey Trot five-kilometer family run. Look at this team’s spirit in those matching T-shirts! Natalie Suleman has a lot to be proud of and celebrate as that day — Maliyah, Josiah, Noah, and Isaiah were all winners for their age group of the race and received pumpkin pies as prizes! Even though half of the family is vegan, Thanksgiving is still a very important holiday for the Solomon family to the degree that despite their food preference, they celebrate together and make it special. So we guess it’s more pie than stuffed turkey for them.
An Internal Struggle
Not seen by the naked eyes, Natalie Suleman had to endure a tremendous amount of physical pain daily owing to the degree of injuries she incurred from carrying eight kids to almost full term. She has suffered four ruptured discs in her lumbar spine, irreparable sacral damage, bilateral sciatica, and peripheral neuropathy. So, it has become very difficult for her to run but she soldiers on! For her to relieve the pain and de-stress also, she climbs 10 miles a day on the stair master machine instead of running on a treadmill. What the public didn’t also know is that she attends a women’s only gym because of her severe social anxiety since childhood, which crowded gyms make her feel. This photo she posted of her in her workout gear is to honor the people who sent her a free workout outfit.
Little Natalie
In the following photo, she also took to social media a photo of the young Nadya Suleman, reminiscing how she was dressed up for Halloween back in 1978 as a messy clown with smeared lipstick and all. Natalie may have gone to the degree of changing her name from Nadya, but that doesn’t mean that she wants to erase everything from her past – only just the part when she took on the persona as Octomom. It’s just one of those bad decisions she regretted so much. Since ridding herself of that persona, Natalie has made tremendous strides to be the best mother she can be to her all her kids.
Cat Mother
She used to have a motherly fascination for cats way before Natalie Suleman became a mother to 14 kids. She had over a dozen cats growing up and how she jokingly called her cats her siblings, but there was just one cat that stole Natalie’s heart to a degree. Here’s a picture from 1975 when Natalie was just a toddler with her mom, brother, and Boots the cat. Natalie loves showing photos of the young her to her children, and Calyssa, her daughter, especially loves this photo with Boots as she also loves cats.
Looking Back On History
Also, from her treasured pictures from way back, we can see how some of her kids, for example, Caleb, looked just like this little kid on the photo. Now we know who should take the credit for Caleb’s good looks. This was the picture of Natalie Suleman’s mom when she was just two-years-old in Germany. This is a major throwback picture to 1940! This also explains a lot how some of Natalie’s kids are fair while some are of a darker complexion. Natalie loves sharing photographs from the past as they show appreciation of the beautiful family she came from and the family she feels the privilege to be with every day. It’s not easy for her to be a single mother to 14 kids, but Natalie counts her blessings every way she can.
A Decade Old
The octuplets celebrated their 10th birthday in January 2019. This photo of them with their blue numbered t-shirts at Circus Trix OC just shows how happily bouncy they are as they celebrate a new decade of their lives with their loving mother Natalie by their side. Natalie feels that she can finally prove all her critics and the naysayers out there wrong, which she mentioned in Inside Edition. Despite their financial lack, living under public assistance, food stamps and an average skill of money management, her children grew into healthy and happy 10-year old kids and that’s all that mattered.
A Responsible Bunch
All of Natalie Suleman’s kids are happy and thriving individuals. They are one who knows very well what it means to be responsible and appreciative as she has taught them well. At home, each kid has an assigned role or chore as prepping for 14 kids isn’t an easy feat. But Natalie made it work in their three-bedroom townhouse outside Los Angeles. Nariyah’s pastime is cooking, so she prepares the food for the family. Her favorite dish to make is lentil soup, as most of them are vegans. Noah and Maliah do the laundry, while Jonah does the dishes and Jeremiah does the drying. She also divides the chores like wiping down appliances, setting the table, and vacuuming between the other kids. While she takes on the more serious ones like the electricity bills, home security, and the likes.
Work Hard, Play Hard
Natalie is so proud of her kids and how supportive they all are. Other than the divided house chores, she also encourages them to have fun and to embrace their talents. Her kids love spending their time quizzing each other in Math, practice musical instruments, such as the violin and the recorder. Noah has this exceptional love for playing the violin, and Natalie shares this on Instagram with a proud picture of him and a caption congratulating him for his first-string performance. There’s no denying the degree of pride Natalie has for her children, even with the way they spoil her, like on her birthday and Mother’s Day.
Blessed With The Best
Natalie publicly shares on Instagram how blessed she is to have such wonderful and healthy children. “I couldn’t do it without my kids. They are literal angels,” she proudly told Inside Edition. One such example of her Instagram post is this photo of her family when they celebrated Mother’s Day last May 2019. She gave a heartwarming shout out to all her 14 kids, crediting to them how she feels so loved and special every day. In the photo are 10 of her 14 children, who gathered around a table covered in flowers and cards. She signed off the lengthy post with, “You are my life. My heart. I love you.”
Nostalgic Moments
Impossible as it might sound, but Natalie Suleman knows how to shower all her 14 kids with an equal amount of love, care, and affection. In May 2019, she shared a special post for her firstborn, Elijah, as they celebrated his 18th birthday. She shared about their rough start when he kept her up for hours on end as a baby with colic. But she emphasized how that whole ordeal only made them both stronger and how he takes credit for showing her the meaning and value of perseverance, patience, acceptance, and unconditional love. Moments like these are worth treasuring for a lifetime.
To The Next Decade
Natalie Suleman shares some of her thoughts about the future, especially now that all her 14 kids are growing bigger and developing their own sense of identity. She also told Inside Edition how she isn’t in touch with her sperm donor who fathered the octuplets, but maybe, they will meet up with him when they all turn 18. While her six older kids came from another donor and despite offers of one million dollars by media to divulge his identity, she refused as she promised him 25 years ago to protect his privacy. The money could have been a great help for raising her kids, but instead, she lived off public assistance and maybe some small loans here and there to get by and to keep her word.