Nadya Suleman became a household name in 2009 when she welcomed the first surviving octuplets in history.
Already a mother of six children—Amerah, Calyssa, Elijah, Caleb, Joshua, and Aidan—Suleman became a mother to a remarkable 14 with the addition of the octuplets: Noah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Josiah, Makai, Maliyah, and Nariyah.
Despite her past struggles with her fertility doctor and intense media scrutiny, Suleman is now in a very different place, celebrating a new addition to her family. On Sunday, September 22, she took to Instagram to share the joyous news, posting a photo of her baby granddaughter’s tiny foot peeking out from behind a pink blanket. Without revealing which of her 10 sons had welcomed the baby, Suleman wrote in the caption, “Thank you my son and my lovely daughter-in-law for giving us this beautiful gift! We are so blessed that she is a new addition to our family! Baby girl, you are so very loved and we can’t wait to watch you grow!! 8/30/24 🙏🏽❤️.”
Learn more about the ‘Octomom’ turned grandmother here.
Who is Nadya Suleman?
Born in Fullerton, California, on July 11, 1975, Suleman made history as the first person to have surviving octuplets.
Already a single mother of six, Suleman gave birth to her octuplets on January 26, 2009, quickly becoming a tabloid and TV fixture. However, she expressed that the “Octomom” persona widely portrayed in the media did not reflect her true self. “I was pretending to be a fake, a caricature, which is something I’m not,” she told The New York Times in 2018. “I was doing it out of desperation and scarcity to provide for my family. I’ve been hiding from the real world all my life.”
“I was spiraling down a dark hole,” she continued. “There were no healthy opportunities for Octomom. 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.”
Today, Suleman and her children live in a three-bedroom townhouse in Orange County, California, along with their cats, Penelope and Mimi. In 2021, she announced on Instagram that she was working on a book about her experiences, though no publication date has been set.
“In response to hundreds of requests to write a book, I began writing in graduate school over 15 years ago, researching the amalgamation of factors influencing the manifestation of autism. It evolved into a memoir over the years and is currently 20 chapters,” she wrote in the caption of her September 19, 2021 post.
Who Is the Father of Suleman’s Kids?
The father of Suleman’s 14 children, including her octuplets, is a sperm donor whose identity has not been publicly revealed. In the 2018 interview with The New York Times, she mentioned that the children have not yet met him, stating, “Maybe the kids will meet him at 18, the donor. I don’t know.”
How Did Suleman Have Eight Babies?
Suleman said she was implanted with octuplets without her knowledge, while her doctor says she pushed for the implantations, per The New York Times. In 2008, Dr. Michael Kamrava, a fertility specialist who previously performed in-vitro fertilization to help Suleman have her previous six children, implanted her with 12 embryos simultaneously.
Out of that dozen, eight resulted in live births. It reportedly took 46 doctors and nurses to perform a C-section on Suleman when she went into labor at 31 weeks of pregnancy. While the babies were underweight (the smallest weighing in at 1 lb., 8 oz.), they all survived.
Suleman told the outlet that she originally wanted to have twins, not octuplets. She alleged that Kamrava “misled” her during the process, claiming that while she was under the influence of narcotics and on a gurney, he informed her that they had lost the first six embryos he had implanted and needed to implant another six. A friend of Kamrava denied these allegations, stating that he was merely complying with Suleman’s wishes.
In June 2011, Kamrava’s medical license was revoked after the California State Medical Board accused him of “gross negligence” in the cases of Suleman and two other patients.
How Old Are Suleman’s Octuplets?
On January 26, 2024, Suleman’s octuplets celebrated their 15th birthday.
She shared her joy on Instagram, writing, “Happy 15th birthday Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Josiah, and Makai! I am so proud of the young adults you are becoming! Stay true to yourselves—humble, kind, and honest. I am so grateful for your love and feel beyond blessed to have you in my life. I love you ❤️.”
How Old Are Suleman’s Other Kids?
- Elijah: 23 (born May 20, 2001) – Suleman’s first child and eldest son
- Amerah: 22 (born July 1, 2002) – Suleman’s second child and first daughter
- Joshua: 20 (born in 2003) – Suleman’s second oldest son
- Aidan: 19 (born in 2005) – Suleman’s fourth child
- Calyssa: 18 (born in 2006) – Suleman’s fifth child, welcomed alongside her fraternal twin, Caleb
- Caleb: 18 (born in 2006) – Suleman’s fifth child, fraternal twin of Calyssa