Skip to Content

Formerly known as Octomom and as Nadya, Natalie Suleman’s family is too big for Instagram.

But despite the size of her brood and her troubled past, her new interview makes it sound like her life is going well these days.

Who would have thought?

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

In a new profile by The New York Times, Natalie Suleman talks about how much life has changed for her and for her fourteen children.

"The octuplets are small for their age," Natalie admits.

That is of course no surprise. They’re the first octoplets in history to even all be born and survive.

"But," Natalie says. "They’re polite, they cook, they’re vegan."

Natalie has spoken about her family being minimalists and mostly vegan before.

"They read two books a month," Natalie continues about her fourth graders. "And do their homework without being prompted."

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

Natalie has told a few different versions of how exactly she came to give birth to eight children at once.

These days, she says that Beverly Hills fertility specialist Dr. Kamrava, who lost his license in 2011, talked her into implanting extra embryos.

Worse, she says that he did so while she was sedated.

"He told me we lost six embryos," Natalie describes.

She continues, saying: "he said they were expelled out of me."

"And that’s why he wanted to implant another six," Natalie accuses.

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

Natalie insists that, despite the press coverage of her almost a decade ago, she "never wanted the attention."

"I have PTSD from all the reporters coming in over the years," Natalie reveals.

"I would take whatever I could back in the days," she admits.

"And," Natalie continues. "I would let them in."

"I was spiraling down a dark hole," she says.

We know that PTSD sounds dramatic — most people get it from abuse or assault or, less reliably, from military deployment.

But someone ill-equipped and emotionally vulnerable can absolutely be traumatized by the extremes of fame.

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

Natalie also expands upon why she’s put the Octomom title behind her.

"There were no healthy opportunities for Octomom," she admits.

"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."

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

Natalie seems … alright these days.

It’s a little worrying that she’s Americanized her first name from Nadya to Natalie, but her name is her choice.

Her young kids are vegan, which is just a label — neither good nor bad.

She freely admits that her older kids remain omnivorous and that she’s not going to force them to subsist upon plants.

Her choice in feeding her children quinoa is of course problematic.

(When Americans flock to import exotic, trendy foods, it prices out communities who have subsisted on the food for generations)

But, honestly, she probably doesn’t even know that. How many of us think about where our food originates?

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

Natalie mas emphasized the personal choices of her children.

In addition to allowing some of her children to continue to eat the food that they like, she also respects how much or how little they wish to appear on camera.

Even her largest group photos tend to exclude one or two of her kids.

Perhaps Natalie’s own experiences with fame have taught her that not everyone belongs in front of a camera.

Or maybe she’s just a good mom who recognizes that her children are people, not props for her social media clout.