Nadya Suleman is living a quiet life with her 14 children, People is reporting. Suleman, who now goes by the name Natalie, was dubbed the “Octomom” by the press after giving birth to octuplets in 2009. Suleman received major backlash for having that many embryos implanted as well as going on to participate in a nude photoshoot and a sex tape before eventually entering rehab. Now, Suleman lives in a three-bedroom townhouse in Orange County, California, with her children. She says she now sees the error in her ways and wants to set a better example for her kids.
“I was selfish and immature,” she said of her controversial past in an article for the New York Times. “I never wanted the attention.”
Suleman also claims she was “misled” by her doctor, Dr. Michael Kamrava, who has since lost his medical license and moved out of the United States. She claims she agreed to have 12 embryos implanted while under the influence of narcotics and in a gurney. According to her, Kamrava convinced her to implant six more embryos after telling her she had lost the original six she had implanted. Kamrava’s friend, Rabbi David Shofet, maintains that Kamvara told him he had tried to persuade her not to keep all of them.
Suleman also says she was roped into making a sex tape after her manager, an adult film actress, blackmailed her and told her she would report her to welfare for fraud if she did not follow through with filming. Suleman says her kids are aware of “everything” she went through, and that while she has struggled financially, she’s ultimately glad she retreated from the public eye in 2013.
“I had stopped wanting to do it from day one,” she said in 2016. “I was violating my boundaries and my value system and my own self. I didn’t think of it at the time because I was in survival mode, and I was doing whatever I possibly could to provide for my kids.”
According to Suleman, seeing the effect her decisions had on her children motivated her to step out of the spotlight.
“There was definitely a catalyst — my girls, particularly my oldest daughter Amerah,” she said. “She was about 10, and she started integrating my traits and behaviors. After I had observed my daughter beginning to emulate me, I saw her going down that same potentially destructive path, and I realized at that moment I’d rather be homeless in my van with all 14 kids than continuing down this path. It was not what I wanted for my children.”
Despite her tumultuous past, Suleman and her kids seem settled. Her son, Joshua, even told the New York Times that they enjoy having so many siblings to play with, even though it can be “overwhelming” at times.