Nadya Suleman, who’s better known as “Octomom,” revealed her biggest regret after welcoming 14 kids.
Nadya, who now goes by the name Natalie, rose to fame when she gave birth to the world’s first surviving octuplets in January 2009. In order to become pregnant with “just one more” baby, Nadya, 49, had multiple back-to-back rounds of IVF administered by Dr. Michael Kamrava, who implanted her with 12 embryos instead of the standard practice of two.
“I don’t think I’d do too much differently,” Nadya told People about the experience in an interview published on Wednesday, March 5. “I do regret not suing the infertility doctor. I definitely regret that because his insurance would’ve been the one paying, and it would’ve been some millions, and it would’ve been helpful for my family.”
In addition to her octuplets, Nadya also conceived her six older children through IVF with the help of Kamrava.
Nadya, who was a single mother and grad student living with her parents when she was pregnant with the octuplets, revealed she struggled to financially support her large family.
“I regret that I kind of threw myself under the bus to cover for him, and I shouldn’t have but I was grateful,” she continued about Kamrava. “I wouldn’t have had any of my kids if it weren’t for his innovative technique. No one else in the world did this type of procedure so I didn’t have it in my heart to sue him.”
While Nadya never sued the infertility doctor, she did sue the hospital where she gave birth “because they breached HIPAA.” After noting that some hospital employees reportedly shared her name and medical information with the press, Nadya said the hospital was the reason she “ended up in the public eye.”
In addition to sharing her one regret about the experience, Nadya also opened up about why she wanted to have so many children. “I wasn’t happy as an only child, and clearly I projected my dream onto my kids and wanting a big, well, not this big of a family, but I did want seven kids,” she told the outlet.
“But it’s not enough to say I wanted a big family because I was lonely,” Nadya continued. “There is an amalgamation of factors. I wanted kids to create maybe a safe and predictable little world that I lacked growing up. So then of course, I projected onto my future family.”
While Nadya stepped out of the spotlight in 2013, she is ready to open up about her experience in the Lifetime docuseries Confessions of Octomom, which premieres on Monday, March 10.
“With her octuplets turning sixteen this January and her other six children ranging from 17 to 23 years-old, Suleman has been out of the public eye for years and now, for the first time, Suleman and her 14 children reveal a much different life than the world has ever been privy to before,” Lifetime’s synopsis of the six-episode docuseries reads. “The series also follows the octuplets through their challenges and triumphs, growing up in the spotlight and their desire to move beyond their now secluded life.”
