RADAR EXCLUSIVE: Octomom Natalie 'Nadya' Suleman Give Us Her Most Revealing Interview Ever — Telling How She Yanked Kids Out of Schools Over Bullying to How She HATES Her Nickname and Will NEVER Do Reality TV Show
March 18 2025, Published 3:45 p.m. ET
Don't call Natalie 'Nadya' Suleman "Octomom."
The woman who became an international curiosity in 2009 after she gave birth to the world's first surviving octuplets is so done with that label. Instead, the 49-year-old would rather focus on giving her octuplets – and their six older brothers and sisters – grounded and normal lives.
The so-called 'Octomom' is the subject of a new multi-part docuseries.
After spending years out of the public eye to raise her young brood, Suleman is opening the doors to her life once more in a new, six-part Lifetime docuseries.
In an exclusive video interview with RadarOnline.com, the mother-of-14 shared that with the last of her kids now teenagers, the time is right to address "misconceptions" that she said have followed her since their miraculous birth.
But she's not looking to become the next Kate Gosselin.
"I’ve declined reality shows since they were little," Suleman told us. "I thought as an adult I could handle exploiting myself, being exploited temporarily, shamefully adopting that caricature 'Octomom' in the past, but it took a toll.
"So if it was really damaging to me, I couldn’t imagine how detrimental filming children on an ongoing basis could be."
However, she did hint: "Since they’re older, maybe when they are adults, 18, maybe my answer will be different."
Suleman wants to dispel misconceptions about her parenting.
Suleman's new show has already teased a platform for all of her kids to speak their minds. Her goal since day one has been to keep her kids healthy and well adjusted.
When she first found fame, Suleman was criticized for giving birth to now-16-year-olds Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Makai, Josiah, Jeremiah, and Jonah – especially considering she was already mother to Elijah, now 23; Amerah, 22; Joshua, 21; Aidan, 19; and 18-year-old twins Caleb and Calyssa.
However, the family is close – and very protective of each other. Each child was the result of in vitro fertilization, something she never tried to keep from them.
"They’re very cognizant that they’re one of an octuplet," Suleman said, explaining that for a long time, they didn't even realize their unique childhoods.
She wants the public to know how grounded they all are.
That changed when the kids started public school.
Suleman explained: "When they went to school they were a little bit shocked that people pretty much perceived them a certain way and they treated them a little differently.
"They were not ever harassed, but kids would make comments. They would treat them a little unfairly. They would treat them like aliens."
Suleman laughed when reflecting on the time daughter Maliyah told her mom, "'They're treating us like we’re not the same species.' I thought that was funny."
But with the spotlight shining ever brighter, the proud mom made the decision to pull her kids out of school, for a friendlier and more conducive environment of home schooling.
"They value privacy. They all do," Suleman defended. "They just want to be treated like everyone else."
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Most importantly for her, Suleman wants people to see how "normal" her family really is.
"The public deserves to know the truth about the past, about the present, about who we are as a family and who I was personally as a mother," she said.
She added: "This whole story, I would say there are misconceptions about everything. And as long as the public, who deserves to know the truth, as long as they find out the truth they can formulate their own subjective views."
Suleman admitted she feels responsible for exposing – and overexposing – her family to public scrutiny. But it's never to late to reclaim your narrative.
"I don’t think anyone would want to go through life with people seeing them as the antitheses to who they truly are."
