Here's What Octomom Looks Like Today
For many, having a large family is a life goal. For Natalie Suleman (formerly known as Nadya), her unconventionally huge family became one of the biggest national sensations of the late 2000s. Suleman, aka "Octomom," catapulted into stardom when she conceived eight children at once through in-vitro fertilization. Suleman gave birth to six boys and two girls on January 26, 2009, and managed to break a world record in the process. The eight children beat the former worldwide survival rate for an array of octuplets, per Guinness World Records.
Prior to her getting pregnant with octuplets, Octomom already had six children, according to Moms. Even as a mother to 14 children, Suleman surely doesn't look like it. While it's rare that she shares current photos of herself on her Instagram account, Suleman's July 2020 selfie video shows off her rather impressive post-pregnancy body.
Now that public interest in her life is waning, Octomom lives a private life in Orange County, California with her children. The road, however, hasn't always been easy for her in the public eye. Keep reading to find out more of Octomom's life updates since giving birth.
Octomom's infamy resulted in a serious drug addiction
The public eye hasn't always been the best to Natalie Suleman. When her family first became the center of international attention, the money rolled in for a short-lived time. Octomom took on several different gigs in order to make ends meet for her large family. In 2011, Suleman took up celebrity boxing, from which she was later banned due to her agent allegedly owing money to several people, per HuffPost.
When celebrity boxing no longer became an option, Octomom dabbled in pornography and stripping. Her short stint in porn won her an Adult Video Network (AVN) award for "Best Celebrity Sex Tape," according to E! News. In 2012, Suleman did a semi-nude shoot on the cover of Closer, per USA Today.
Balancing infamy and caring for all 14 of her children, Suleman turned to Xanax and alcohol to numb her "deep toxic shame and self disgust," she told the Daily Mail in 2016. She told the outlet that she "made the decision to 'kill' the Octomom character in March 2013 in a bid to save her life." Suleman revealed to The New York Times, "I was pretending to be a fake, a caricature, which is something I'm not, and I was doing it out of desperation and scarcity so I could provide for my family." Since then, Octomom has made a huge turnaround. She's no longer using prescription drugs and she currently works as a counselor, per The Independent.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Natalie Suleman focuses on her kids
It's been years since Natalie Suleman started her journey to sobriety, and now, she's shifted 100% of her attention to tending to her children, some of which have varied care needs. Many are small for their age, one is on the autism spectrum, and one is "severely autistic," per The New York Times.
In 2019, Octomom opened up about the struggles of raising children on the spectrum on Instagram. "This is my adolescent infant Aidan. He is 14 years old, going on one in his head. Aidan is severely autistic and [needs] total care," she said at the time. "He requires complete assistance in meeting all needs in activities of daily living. Aidan is non-verbal, requires feeding, changing, bathing, and one-to-one supervision ... I, his mother, am, and always have been, his ONLY care provider," she said. "This 'job' is my life. My children are my LIFE."
In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Suleman also shared the lengths she goes to in order to provide the proper care for her kids. "Aidan's special needs school was shut down in addition to my other children's school over a month ago," she wrote in an Instagram post. "My daily mission (aside from distance learning at home), is to find a safe place outdoors for my kids to play 'P.E,' and for Aidan to roam around as we have no backyard," she continued. "My life always has, and always will be, revolved around my kids."
Octomom's lifestyle of faith and fitness
Raising over a dozen children is no easy feat, but Natalie Suleman thrives by putting "God, food, and fitness" at the center of her family's life. From time to time, she shares glimpses of her kids going through what's called a "motivation boot camp," which seems to involve a series of exercises.
Octomom places utmost importance on working out and even said that the gym has been her "anchor" for 30 years. "Working out consistently since I was a teen has kept me healthy, strong, and SANE; particularly now as a mom of 14, which can be a bit stressful," she wrote in a lengthy Instagram post. "Weightlifting helps me constructively channel stress, strengthening both my mind and the muscles surrounding my lumbar spine." In her interview with The New York Times, she also revealed that her entire family is vegan and that they don't subscribe to traditional medicine. "I'm a raw vegan, and I perceive pharmaceuticals to be poison," she wrote, revealing she instead leans on faith.
What keeps her going is the fact that she can be a good role model to her children when it comes to one's well-being. "Most importantly, my healthy lifestyle has positively influenced my kids who also consistently workout and eat healthfully," she wrote on Instagram. "The gym is my second favorite place to be ... home with my kids will always be number one."