In light of my post earlier today, which was very lengthy, I want to devote just a few moments to cover the “Octuplets Nightmare Media Timeline.” I am not certain why…but the story fascinates me on so many levels and each day there is a new, more bizarre revelation.
January 26 – Octuplets born in California; second set ever in the United States. We’re told they are healthy and happy. Big success…everybody rejoices. Doctors praise the mother as “strong” and “courageous.” We are told that the mother’s name, pictures of the children, and whether or not artificial means were used…are not going to be released, at the mother’s request. At most, a few of us think, “Better her than me…good luck with that.”
January 30 – While still not releasing the mother’s name, it is revealed that the mother already had six other children through IVF, that she is a single mom, and that she lives with her parents. The grandfather vows that we will never know his daughter’s name or where they live. We also are told by doctors that she knew she was having multiple births but refused what they call “selective reduction.” People and assorted experts start to ask, “Why would a jobless single mom, living with her parents and six kids…want a bunch more kids? Why would fertility doctors, who normally only implant 2 or 3 embryos, implant 6 embryos?”
February 4 – We now know the mom’s name: Nadya Suleman. While still hospitalized she starts hiring publicists, contacts Oprah and Diane Sawyer, and works on various book and movie offers. No names on the kids or the father…except we know that the “sperm donor in question” was also the donor for her other six children and that he is working as a translator in Iraq. Nadya decides $2 million dollars is a fair price for her story. The sudden cries for money and attention add to our growing concerns regarding both the doctors’ and the mother’s judgment.
February 5 – The mother checks out of the hospital…a few of the prematurely born babies are to remain for several weeks. The hospital reveals little else citing, “the mother’s request for privacy.” Public records show the mother has used several names over the years, and has married and divorced once. Despite the grandfather’s warnings we now know where they live and reporters are camped outside the house. Turns out, Nadya worked at a mental health institution, but she obtained a back injury there, and is now out of work. She collected $165,000 in disability payments due to the injury. Her mother, friends, and neighbors assure us that once we hear Nadya’s story…we’ll just love her. Medical and Psychiatric experts continue to question the judgment of all involved.
February 6 – Nadya Suleman speaks with Ann Curry of the Today Show. She explains that she may not have a job or any means of support…but she will once she finishes school. She says she won’t except welfare because she doesn’t expect anyone else to help. She says that she is going to give of herself fully to her children, and that is more than many kids get. She also explains that her childhood, specifically being an only child, created her need to have lots of babies to “create a connection.” Analysts and psychiatrists alike scoff at Nadya’s obvious delusions and self-serving rationalizations. The same day, people start to ask questions regarding the disability money Nadya received…if her back was so injured that she couldn’t work, then why was it a good idea to carry over a half-dozen babies? Why would the doctors think this was a good idea? Is she entitled to the money?
February 7 – Nadya’s mental health history comes to light…both in terms of her work IN the mental health industry, and the help she needs FROM the mental health industry. Following an incident at the mental health facility where she worked, Nadya was diagnosed with depression, paranoia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and “wild mood swings.” After multiple ectopic pregnancies…she married her husband. After the incident at work…she divorced her husband. She gave birth to six other children through IVF…and experienced terrible postpartum depression and paranoid delusions about future miscarriages and her children getting kidnapped. Apparently, her current doctors had no concerns about any of these things. Civility goes out the window and now certain press outlets refer to Suleman as “octomom,” or in one particularly cruel case “clown car.” Online chatter indicates that a great many people now realize that this woman having more children was not a great idea…and some are quite angry about it.
February 9 – The second part of Nadya’s interview with Ann Curry is shown, and she indicates that she will pay for her children’s needs with money from her student loans: “I am providing for my children. I am. And that will probably run out by the time I go back to school. So I have my own way. It’s an alternative way, but it works.” Meanwhile, the children’s grandmother does an interview of her own. Their house is shown to be a chaotic, small, and messy place. Angela Suleman (Nadya’s mother) claims that SHE is, in fact, taking care of the children, and without much assistance from Nadya. She is exasperated at her daughter’s lack of attention towards ALL of her children, even the initial six. Angela claims that her daughter bought toys, but did not contribute money towards food, other necessities, or rent…and Nadya didn’t tell her about the $165,000 in disability money she received from worker’s comp. The clips are here.
February 10 – It is revealed that Nadya Suleman receives $490 a month in food stamps…and receives federal supplemental security income because three of her previous six children are disabled. This proves her previous statement to Ann Curry that she was not receiving (or interested in) public assistance, false. Her words from that interview: “I’m not receiving help from the government. I’m not trying to expect anything from anybody. [I] just wanted to do it on my own. Any resources that someone would really, really want to help us, I will accept, I would embrace.” Her publicist’s reaction to the revelation that she is, indeed, receiving “help from the government?” He says, “In Nadya’s view, the money that she gets from the food stamp program … and the resources disabilities payments she gets for her three children are not welfare…They are part of programs designed to help people with need, and she does not see that as welfare.” Uh huh…yeah…that argument’s REALLY not going to fly…
Who knows what we will learn tomorrow. And, as to the bigger questions…is this entirely a situation of Nadya’s creation? Or perhaps the doctor’s share a lion’s share of the blame? Or maybe…just maybe…it shows that one of the biggest, gaping holes in our societies fabric involves how we identify, diagnose, treat, manage, and protect our country’s mentally ill. Because honestly…would anybody argue that this woman is sane? If not, do we think it is a swell idea for the insane to have as many babies as they want to? Sometimes…just sometimes…I’m not even sure sane people should be allowed to have as many babies as they want to…