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Home / Lifestyle

'Octomum' Nadya Suleman shares new school photo of 8 kids

By Rebekah Scanlan
news.com.au·
18 Aug, 2022 02:26 AM4 mins to read

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Natalie Suleman, seen here with her children in 2010, has shared a new photo of her famous octuplets. Photo / Getty Images

Natalie Suleman, seen here with her children in 2010, has shared a new photo of her famous octuplets. Photo / Getty Images

Nadya Suleman's eight youngest kids are now teenagers, making those of us who remember when they were born feel very old.

The 47-year-old, best known as "Octomum", made headlines around the world in 2009 when she gave birth to octuplets following IVF treatment.

While the kids have grown up mostly out of the spotlight, their mum – who now goes by the name Natalie – gave fans a rare glimpse into their life when she shared a new "first day of school" photo.

The snap was shared to celebrate the octuplets heading back to school. Picture: Instagram / NatalieSuleman
The snap was shared to celebrate the octuplets heading back to school. Picture: Instagram / NatalieSuleman

In the heartwarming snap, Natalie described her youngest as "exceptional role models".

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"Be proud of yourselves kids for being kind, respectful, and helpful to all your fellow peers, teachers and staff ... I love you," she wrote.

The adoring mum, who also has six older kids, went on to add a "side note to critics" who regularly ask about them.

"Their older siblings did not want me to post a picture on their first day," she said.

"I respect their choice, so should you."

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The new school photo comes seven months after Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Jonah, Makai, Josiah and Jeremiah turned 13.

"You are all growing into some of the most kind, humble, grateful and loving human beings I have ever known," Suleman captioned a post on their birthdays in January.

"Each of you possess rare and unique characteristics, and are unlike any other child of your age, particularly in our society today."

The former porn star added that her teens love to serve "the less fortunate," concluding, "I do not know what I could possibly have done to deserve being blessed so bountifully."

Suleman was already mum to Ameerah, Calyssa, Elijah, Jonah, Joshua and Aidan when she fell pregnant with the octuplets in 2008. In total she has 14 kids.

Her unusual pregnancy made her a household name – but in recent years Suleman revealed she "never wanted the attention".

"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," she told The New York Times in December 2018.

"I've been hiding from the real world all my life."

She touched on the topic in an Instagram post in January 2020, stating she wanted to use the pain of the last decade to help her and her family accomplish their dreams.

"First, I would like to focus on you kind supporters who have followed my family from day one, nearly 11 years ago," she wrote at the time.

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"2020 marks the seventh year since escaping the false life I was leading; forging on, building a better life for my family.

"I made a decision to repudiate all requests from tabloid-type media (despite how lucrative the offer), as my goal is to progress, and publish my full true story.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nadya “octomom” Suleman (@nataliesuleman)

"Refrain from judging me solely based on the (struggling to survive) season you happened to walk in on.

"Despite the pain of my past, I've chosen to use my struggles as stepping stones, promoting my pursuit of achieving the goals I've set for my family."

In order to make ends meet, the mum-of-14 took on a variety of jobs, including a stint as a porn star that she later described as "foolish, immature and selfish".

"Every day I would wake up with the most ugly, dead, visceral feeling inside of me," she told the Daily Mail in 2017.

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"I didn't want to live. I felt less than human as that character I was pretending to be, to survive and provide for my family."

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