Her side of the story

Ann Curry • Profile

It's just how you expect a story like this to begin: The tiny babies, heartbreakingly beautiful, and vulnerable. The tremendous challenge, tempered by a sense of wonder, made bearable by acts of charity. That's how this story began, before it took a decided turn.

Keith Olbermann: What kind of whacked- out quack of a fertility doctor implants at least 6 embryos in one womb?

Bill O'Reilly: The mother's a nut. The mother - is something wrong with her?

Ann Curry: You've been called irresponsible.

Nadya Suleman: Uh-huh.

Ann Curry: Unstable.

Nadya Suleman: Can I respond first? (laughter)

Ann Curry: Yeah.  I -  irresponsible.

Nadya Suleman: Okay.  Irresponsible.  I personally do not believe I'm irresponsible.  Everything I do revolves around my children.

On Jan. 26, Nadya Suleman gave birth to octuplets. Eight babies.  Multiple births of this magnitude are exceedingly rare, and almost never turn out well.  The Suleman eight are already the longest surviving octuplets in U.S. history.  You might call them miracle babies.

And yet, before she even checked out of the hospital, Nadya Suleman was the most vilified mother in America. In a flash everyone, it seemed, knew all about her.  Nadya was unmarried, unemployed, and already had six other children.

Ann Curry: Why is it responsible for a single woman without a job with six kids to bring eight more children into this world?

Nadya Suleman: I am responsible. Yes, I have chosen to be single.  Or simply because -  a -  there's a couple, or they're married or just together.  Why are they exempt from being called irresponsible? 

Tonight, she responds in a new interview just today to the latest criticisms, and reveals new details about her story.

Nadya Suleman: I dream about going back to my life. This is an explosion.

We hear for the first time from her six other children. And go inside the little house where the family of 15 might all live. But, as with most stories, It helps to start at the beginning.

Ann Curry: Let me put it this way.  How did an only child end up with 14 children?

Nadya Suleman: That was always a dream of mine, to have a large family, a huge family, and -  I just longed for connections and attachments with another person that I -  I really lacked, I believe, growing up.

Nadya Suleman was born in Fullerton, Calif., in 1975.  Her mother was a high school teacher.  Her dad was a restaurateur and later a realtor.  She had no brothers or sisters. Her parents were all she had. But she says it wasn't enough.

Ann Curry: Describe what you felt you lacked within.

Nadya Suleman: Feeling of self and identity. Reflecting back on my childhood, I know it wasn't functional.  It was pretty -  pretty dysfunctional, and whose isn't? (laughter)  I was very unconditionally loved and accepted, I felt, by my father.  My mom, we had a relationship.  I knew she loved me.  I always knew she loved me.  But she didn't, openly or overtly, express, you know, affection and love.  But I -  I knew.  I knew she did.

Ann Curry: But you missed it.

Nadya Suleman: I did.

Nadya's mother declined to speak to us on camera, but she has been quoted in an online interview saying theirs was a loving family.

Ann Curry: So then how did this impact you, wishing for more affection from your mother?

Nadya Suleman: Well, I just would long for siblings. My mom would rationalize, "Well, you know, I always provided with many, many friends."  And I'm like, "Yes, I know."  That's very different.  It's a very different bond, siblings and friends. And I just - I wanted that huge family, just to surround me, be surrounded by.

Ann Curry: How old were you when you had this idea that you wanted to have the biggest family possible?

Nadya Suleman: Not necessarily the biggest family possible, but just -  I didn't put a number on it really.  I would always -  yeah, six, seven, but that wasn't as essential as just having that -  those connections, the bond  I lacked. And I personally believe that need to fill something inside that's not there, the void, the feeling of emptiness. I think everyone has that.

Ann Curry: So you took the path that people take.

Nadya Suleman: Yeah.

Ann Curry: They get married.

Nadya Suleman: Uh-huh. (laughter) I did get married.  I did get married.

That was in 1996, when she was 21 years old.  But she says, she and her husband could not conceive children. 

Nadya Suleman: I went through about seven years of trying.  And through artificial insemination.  And through medication.  And all of which was unsuccessful. 

She says she had an ectopic pregnancy, a dangerous condition that led to the discovery of more problems.

Nadya Suleman: I had so many reproductive problems from fibroids. I have also had lesions in my fallopian tubes.  It turned out that my tubes were scarred.

So the only option left over was IVF, a procedure where they remove your eggs, and then they take the sperm, culture it in a dish and then transfer it back.

But in vitro fertilization is very expensive, and rarely covered by insurance.  At that time  -  the late 1990's -  Nadya was working as a technician at a psychiatric hospital, doing basic nursing, assessing patients, administering medication.

Nadya Suleman: And I was able to work double-shifts, constantly working double-shifts, 'cause I was hoarding my money, and I was saving it and nonstop working.  I was so driven, so determine, I wouldn't give up.  There's no way I would have ever allowed any obstacle, impediment to get in my way of my dream, so.

Ann Curry: So your whole intent in working so hard -

Nadya Suleman: Yes.

Ann Curry: You weren't buying a car -

Nadya Suleman: Car.  My friends are like, "Are you saving for a house, a car?"  "No, for babies."

MORE FROM NEWSMAKERS

Newsmakers Section Front

Secrets Of The Lost Symbol Read an excerpt from 'The Lost Symbol' The Michael Jackson Tapes Michael Jackson: ‘I am scared of my father’ Back to Woodstock Kidnapped Heiress: The Patty Hearst Story On tour with Taylor Swift See behind-the-scenes web videos of Taylor Swift Slideshow: Concert photos of Taylor Swift Kids of 'Slumdog': Where are they now? Newsmakers Section Front   Add Newsmakers headlines to your news reader: