‘Octomom’ Nadya Suleman has celebrated her octuplets’ twelfth birthday.
The 45-year-old, who has a total of 14 children, wished happy birthday via Instagram to the group of eight who she welcomed following a course of IVF in 2009.
Nadya also shared an adorable photo of the siblings wearing animal onsies, with two cradling cats in their arms.
“Happy 12th birthday to 8 of the most kind, caring, and respectful kids I have ever known,” the Los Angeles mum wrote.
“Your compassion for all living things and value of humbly serving others is the definition of love.
“You make my heart full, and have blessed our lives abundantly.
“I am honored to be your mother. I love you Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Josiah, and Makai.
“I know grandma would be incredibly proud, and is lovingly looking down upon you from above.”
Nadya was 21-years-old and divorced when she began IVF in 1997, using money from a $165,000 (£120,000) settlement she got from suffering an injury at work.
She got pregnant five times, once with fraternal twins, before Beverly Hills fertility specialist Dr. Michael Kamrava transferred 12 embryos into her uterus in one go.
The pair have differing stories about whose idea it was to do that.
Nonetheless, Nadya gave birth to the octuplets at 31 weeks in 2009, with 46 doctors and nurses on hand to perform the C-section.
Six boys and two girls weighing between 1 lb. 8 oz. and 3 lbs. 4 oz were delivered.
The siblings became the longest surviving set of octuplets to be born in the US
Nadya has been heavily criticised in the past by people who believe she had too many children that she couldn’t afford to care for.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, the proud mother explained that she has sometimes had to resort to desperate measures in order to pay her bills.
She revealed that it costs $5,000 (£3,650) per month to run her household even though she only receives $1,500 (£1,090) worth of food stamps from the government.
In a bid to make ends meet she became a porn star and then a stripper.
Speaking to The New York Post, the reality star admitted that she decided to quit that line of work when she came home from a bikini shoot to find her then-10-year-old daughter Amerah playing dress-up.
“She had been parading around in a pair of stripper-style spike heels, and I knew that I had to stop then”, the doting mum said.
During the early years of life as a mum of octuplets Nadya kept a low profile and stayed out of the media spotlight.
In more recent time she has begun featuring her large brood on social media.
Earlier this year, she opened up about her family’s healthy lifestyle, sharing that 13 out of her 14 kids are vegan.
Nadya, who is “predominantly raw, ethical vegan”, said she did not push her kids into following the ethical code.
“My daughter Calyssa (pictured ingesting raw chard) has internalized and now exhibits similar healthy behaviors as me,” she wrote.
“My oldest, Eli, used to eat burgers nearly daily, and now is vegan on his own volition.
“We parents couldn’t possibly conceptualize how impactful our actions are on our children.
“They are sponges, seeping in everything we do, far more than everything we say.”
The family’s diets now consist of “whole, plant-based foods with nearly no added ingredients”, aside from spices.
The mum claims the healthy and environmentally friendly diet stops her and her kids from getting sick.
The normal stresses and strains of being a parent to such a large brood were made that much more difficult this year when Nadya had to start distance learning.
In March of 2020, she shared two photos of nine of her kids sitting at separate tables with laptops in front of them.
“Made it through the first week of distance learning with 14 students!” she wrote.
“Guaranteed I’m not the only parent slightly stressed; though gleaning out the good in every situation, and teaching my children to do the same, is imperative.”
Read the original article on mirror.co.uk