Natalie “Nadia” Suleman is ready to share her story in a big way.
The 49-year-old, known as Octomom, has a Lifetime film, “I Was Octomom,” and a documentary series, “Confessions of Octomom,” set for release in March.
Suleman spoke to People about her life as a mother of 14 children, including 16-year-old octuplets, and why she wanted to join the Lifetime Project.
“Today, my family and I take back our lives,” Nadia said, adding that it was her children who actually wanted to step out of the shadows.
“I’ve always said I want to keep them safe and protect my children, and they’re older now,” she explained. “They’re turning 16 and really deciding to do this.”
Suleman further explained, “My children are going to share for the first time. Also, my older children are speaking in public and they didn’t want that. And actually… , I didn’t want to do that.” [to speak out] To tell you the truth. “
Her daughter Nariya, 15, told PEOPLE: “I’m so excited. Our mother will finally be able to tell her side of the story. She’s been exposed to fear just because she’s a mother. , because I think it’s very unfair that he was hated.” And she had to sacrifice a lot for her children. ”
The film follows her journey to expand her family. Already a single mother of six children, she had undergone IVF in the past, but in 2008 she went to the doctor for another procedure. He ended up implanting 12 embryos and she became pregnant with eight. The first surviving octuplets in history were born on January 26, 2009.
She told People magazine, “This film depicts my journey, starting with my decision to undergo one more round of IVF to complete my family of six. I only wanted one more round. But I became a single mother of 14 and went through all the trials and tribulations. The challenges and struggles and what I had to do to keep fighting for my family.”
Suleman said it wasn’t easy at first, especially with all the negativity hitting her. “At first it was complete chaos. Of course there were all the details of death threats and fear for my family’s lives. And on the other hand, I had to keep sacrificing my integrity over and over again. ” she said. Live and feed your family. ”
It took me years to find normalcy. She said: “It wasn’t until they were about 4 years old that I was finally able to escape all of that, all of the attacks that I felt from the world… and all of the global scorn and condemnation that made me a misplaced target.” Hatred I was able to escape and finally return to my old life. ”
Suleman added, “Eventually I had to really lean into my faith, my very strong faith in God. And until I did that, everything fell into place beautifully.”
Octomum’s Nadia Suleman announces she has become a grandmother for the first time
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Nadia, who recently became a grandmother, insisted, “I’m not this compartmentalized caricature. I’m not an octomom, I’m a mother.”
Regarding her reasons for speaking out, Suleman said, “The main reason I share real stories is that my perspective is to help people, especially women who are struggling with having one child or not.” to help them and perhaps encourage them to drop out.” They had a strength within them that they didn’t know they had to move forward with to keep moving forward in their lives. ”
Watch “I Was Octomom” on March 8th and “Confessions of Octomom” on March 10th on Lifetime.
