The Surprising Transformation of Natalie Suleman (OctoMom)

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00:00The surprising transformation of Natalie Sulman, also known as Octomom.

00:04I am Natalie Sulman. At one point, I was one of the most hated people in America. I was Octomom.

00:11After becoming a single mom to 14 children, her life spiraled into addiction and self-exploitation.

00:18One lonely childhood sparked a wild dream. Natalie Sulman grew up without siblings,

00:23and that shaped her life in a big way.

00:25At the time, I felt like a seventh baby would complete my family.

00:29She was the only child of Angela and Edward Sulman in California,

00:33with her dad spoiling her, but her mom being kind of distant.

00:36In interviews, Natalie's described feeling starved for closeness,

00:40like she desperately wanted the noise and hustle of a big family.

00:44If I could handle six, then seven would be a breeze.

00:47She's mentioned that her mother didn't overtly show affection,

00:50so she latched onto her father for the unconditional love she craved.

00:54Over time, that craving turned into an obsession. If she couldn't have siblings,

00:58maybe she'd have a bunch of kids herself one day.

01:01I chose to soothe my pain by having one more baby. One more. Not eight.

01:07Her mom, Angela, told the Associated Press that Natalie wanted children from her teenage years onward.

01:13Eventually, Angela was so worried about Natalie's baby fever that she took her to a psychiatrist.

01:19The doctor didn't see any huge red flags, but that didn't stop Angela from fretting.

01:24Basically, from a young age, Natalie had singled out motherhood as her big passion,

01:29setting the stage for everything to follow.

01:32Her two-year marriage was all about babies.

01:35At 21, Natalie met a guy named Marcos Gutierrez, through her college roommate no less,

01:41and decided to give marriage a shot in 1996.

01:44Right away, she dove headfirst into having kids.

01:47But after three miscarriages, doctors found that her fallopian tubes were blocked,

01:53meaning in vitro fertilization, IVF, would be her only real shot.

01:58This was a turning point that helped her realize the tough truth.

02:02She wasn't so much in love with Marcos,

02:03as she was obsessed with the idea of having a giant family.

02:08So they divorced after just a couple of years, though they apparently stayed friendly.

02:13He moved on, got remarried, and fathered kids with his second wife.

02:18Still, in interviews, he's only had good things to say about Natalie,

02:22calling her a person with a great heart.

02:25Meanwhile, Natalie was zeroing in on what she really wanted,

02:29a house full of children. She was ready to chase that goal, husband or no husband.

02:35She had six kids, fast, all thanks to IVF.

02:39Once her marriage ended, Natalie hopped on the IVF train without hesitation.

02:44The first few attempts included artificial insemination and medication, but they didn't work.

02:50She had fibroids, scarring on her tubes, and other reproductive problems.

02:55Finally, some round of IVF did the trick. In May 2001, she welcomed baby number one,

03:02a son named Elijah. Then, just 14 months later, she had daughter Amara.

03:09Over a span of about five years, she birthed four more kids.

03:13Joshua, Aiden, and then fraternal twins, Kalissa and Caleb.

03:18With six children under her belt, Natalie still wasn't done.

03:21She told NBC News that the whole process was complicated and draining, but also incredibly

03:28rewarding. As for who fathered the kids, she said the sperm donor was David Solomon,

03:34but admits that might not be his real name.

03:37They went on a single platonic date, realized they weren't compatible, and parted ways.

03:43But he agreed to donate when she approached him later.

03:46She insists David had no interest in playing a role in the kids' lives, and she was totally fine

03:51with that. By 2006, she'd built her bustling brood of six, but it was only the beginning.

03:57The whole world noticed her octoplets. Natalie had leftover embryos from her IVF treatments,

04:04so she decided to use them in hopes of having just one more baby. She even told the Daily Mail that

04:10she believed no more than two of those embryos would actually work. Enter fertility doc Michael

04:17Kamrava, who transferred all six remaining embryos, despite the typical recommendation being two or

04:23three at most. But guess what? Not only did the six stick, two of them split, making eight potential

04:29babies. Suddenly, the mother of six realized she'd soon be a mother of 14. Natalie was alarmed but

04:36determined. With her older half-dozen kids, she admitted life was challenging, but also said she

04:41loved being a mom. Still, even she knew that adding eight newborns to the mix would be extremely

04:47challenging. In January 2009, her octoplets arrived via C-section at about 30 weeks along. One baby had

04:56stopped receiving blood flow, so doctors moved quickly with a small army of staff to handle the

05:02complicated procedure. All eight survived, making Natalie the mother of the first known set of

05:08octoplets to be born alive and remain healthy. That sensational birth launched her into the public eye

05:17under the headline-friendly nickname Octomom. She turned into Octomom, like it or not. After giving birth to

05:25octoplets, Natalie Sulman morphed into the country's most infamous mom. While the medical feat amazed

05:33folks, press coverage quickly took a negative turn, branding her Octomom and raising eyebrows about

05:39whether she could possibly handle 14 kids alone. People asked how she'd pay for them and criticized

05:46her for choosing to implant so many embryos. Natalie told one interviewer that if she'd had

05:52those octoplets today, she might not have been roasted so publicly. But in 2009, it was a massive

06:00frenzy, and she had to learn how to cope with instant notoriety. Even her publicist threw in the towel.

06:06When you're suddenly America's biggest tabloid magnet, you hire a publicist to manage the chaos.

06:13Natalie first teamed up with Joanne Colleen. But after receiving nearly 100 hate-filled messages and threats,

06:20Joanne bailed, telling NBC News that angry callers wanted her thrown into a wood chipper. Ouch.

06:28Her next publicist, Victor Munoz, didn't last either. He quit soon after, bluntly calling Natalie

06:35nuts. The meltdown of back-to-back press managers showed how intense public rage had become. Some

06:41viewers saw her as irresponsible and greedy, while others simply found her story too bizarre. Her fertility

06:49doctor lost his license in the aftermath. One big question — who on earth gave her eight babies at

06:54once? That would be Dr. Michael Kamrava. Once the octuplet's birth made headlines, the media turned the

07:02spotlight on him. In 2011, the California Medical Board revoked Kamrava's license, ruling that he

07:09acted negligently by implanting 12 embryos across procedures. Natalie said it was six with some splitting,

07:17but the board considered his overall practice anyway. The board didn't label him a total outlier in IVF,

07:24but said he used poor judgment. Kamrava tried to get licensed again, blaming bad press, but never

07:31succeeded. Natalie later admitted she might have been wise to sue him, but felt too conflicted, since she

07:38wouldn't have her kids otherwise. Octomom fell into bankruptcy. Not long after the octuplets arrived,

07:46rumors spread that Natalie was behind on mortgage payments — and essentially broke. By December 2010,

07:52her house was at risk of foreclosure because she allegedly owed $450,000. In May 2012, she officially

08:00declared bankruptcy, saying she was over a million dollars in debt. Ouch. She reported having only

08:07around $50,000 in assets, which obviously didn't cover bills for 14 kids. Natalie even admitted that

08:15she didn't see a way out, other than Chapter 7. But her case was tossed when she failed to file the

08:21required documents. It was a new low for the woman who'd once believed the octuplets would bring her

08:27happiness and stability. Natalie got nabbed for welfare fraud. If you thought Natalie's plate was

08:34full, guess again. In late 2013, she became the subject of a welfare fraud investigation. Allegedly,

08:42she'd continued to accept government aid while neglecting to report some of her earnings from

08:47various side gigs. Prosecutors said she hauled in thousands from private business,

08:53which should have been declared for benefits eligibility. Had she been found guilty at trial,

08:57she could have served serious time. In 2014, she pleaded no contest, avoiding jail but receiving two

09:03years probation and an order to pay back around $26,000. Natalie Sulman emerged with her own docuseries

09:10in 2025. After the welfare scandal, Natalie basically vanished from the spotlight.

09:15She told the New York Times she was raising her kids quietly, working as a counselor,

09:21and feeling relieved to ditch the toxic Octomom identity. But in 2025, she made a slow comeback with

09:29a lifetime docuseries called Confessions of Octomom and a made-for-TV movie titled I Was Octomom,

09:36the Natalie Sulman story. She said the decision was fueled partly by her children, especially the now

09:43teenage Octoplits, who wanted her to reclaim the narrative. According to Natalie, she'd spent

09:49years stuck in exploitative deals just to feed her large family, and now she was setting the record

09:54straight in her own way. What do you guys think of Octomom? Let me know in the comments, and I hope

10:00you have a great day!

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