Nadya Suleman, also known as Octomom, was famous in the tabloids for giving birth to eight children in one pregnancy. The Suleman octuplets are the second full set of octuplets to survive birth. Suleman was criticized by the public when it was discovered that she had six older children, and was living off of public assistance. All of her children were conceived through in vitro fertilization. Suleman was once married, but separated from her husband in 2000. He filed for a divorce against her in 2006, and the process was finalized in 2008.
The reason for the divorce was the couple's difficulty with infertility. While Suleman wanted to try an in vitro fertilized pregnancy, her husband did not support the idea. Eventually, they split over this touchy subject. After giving birth to six children, Suleman told her doctor that she had six embryos left from her previous treatments, and wanted to have all of them implanted. Suleman's story gained national attention, and many people used her as a political example and lamented paying taxes so that she could finance her brood of children. Others rejoiced over the birth of the octuplets, excited to see what they would look like after following the pregnancy in gossip magazines.
Now, Octomom's precarious financial situation is catching up with her, and she has declared bankruptcy. According to an interview with E! News, Nadya says she had some very difficult decisions to make this year. One of them was filing a Chapter 7, because she is no longer able to pay her bills. Nadya explained that she has less than $50,000 in assets and owes between $500,000 and $1 million in liabilities. She has many creditors after her, including Kaiser Permanente, the DMV, her landlord, Orkin Pest Control, DirecTV, the Sylvan Learning Center, and Sparkletts Bottled Water. Some of the other difficult choices on Suleman's list were choosing to accept $2,000 in food stamps, and making choices on which media projects to participate in. Nadya has recently signed on to do some adult-film work that she believes will pay the bills for a time.
Suleman admits that she has hit rock bottom, and that bankruptcy seems to be her only way. She cannot afford her home, or the celebrity lifestyle she has been accustomed to. Her children do not know the precarious financial situation, and she believes that they do not feel the weight of the debt like she does. If her house is sold, Nadya and her 14 children may face an eviction in the near future. Regardless of their living destination, declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy will save Octomom from the creditors who are constantly calling, and help her and her children to start a new, healthier financial lifestyle.
She will have a trustee liquidate all of her assets to satisfy her debts, and virtually start over, while taking on some jobs that were offered to her earlier on this year. She does not have a steady income, and was relying on the finances that were given to her during her years of popularity when pregnant with the octuplets. Once the press died down, Nadya found herself without money.
Now, the house where she and her children have lived since 2009 is up for auction. While the original auction date was May 1st, the court suspended the date one week. Nadya intends to buy an empire for her children in the future, according to an interview on HLN. Yet to get there she will need to work on her business, she explains, and develop her character because she wants to marketable.