‘Octomom’ Nadya Suleman Reinvents Herself, Salvages Dignity After Leaving Adult Entertainment Career

“Octomom” Nadya Suleman is as infamous for making outlandish headlines and she is for being the mother of 14 children. The now 41-year-old first made news when she gave birth to eight babies in 2009 after an IVF procedure. She already had six children via the same method. In the beginning, she received support from the public until a long trail of bad decisions turned them against her. Over the years, Octomom has burned several bridges with friends and family. She lost the trust of many in her life who went out of their way to help, such as nannies, attorneys, PR agents, and good Samaritans.

In 2014, Nadya Suleman was accused of accepting over $16,000 in welfare payments from the State of California illegally. She’s taken heat for her dishonesty and has been bashed countless times for her questionable motives. Child Welfare Services has even gotten involved when there were suspicions her children weren’t being properly taken care of.

A streak of celebrity appearances have also been in Suleman’s life during her time in the spotlight. She’s been in celebrity boxing matches, has appeared at various high-profile events, and in general, has been a tabloid sensation. When she hit the porn scene, she appeared to have hit rock bottom in the dignity department. She took to stripping and filming various videos in the adult entertainment industry, a move that certainly shocked many given the fact she said it was a path she’d never consider to support her 14 children. When things got tough enough for Suleman, that’s exactly what she did. She rationalized that she needed to feed her large brood of kids and that she was willing to do whatever she had to in order to make ends meet.

Octomom hasn’t been in the news for a while, but she recently interviewed with Australia’s Women’s Day magazine about the major changes she’s made in her life.

Nadya Suleman is attempting to salvage her dignity after a lengthy chain of poor choices in her life. Octomom revealed to the magazine that she’s no longer doing porn and that in spite of what people think, she worked for the money she brought in. Nothing was handed to her.

“Everything I ever did was for money to put food on the table,” Nadya said of her involvement in the porn industry. “Everyone thinks I had all these donations and help, but I didn’t. I did everything on my own and paid for everything out of my own pocket.”

Octomom shares that she beat two years of darkness after nearly becoming homeless. She revealed that instead of putting her children on a reality TV show, she chose to go a different direction. She took back her dignity by returning to her job as a psychiatric nurse.

Nadya Suleman continued that she felt “dehumanized” and “exploitative” when she turned to stripping and porn. As USA Today reports, Octomom has been linked to a number of unseemly headlines, but also has her fair share of positive stories. She has a bachelor’s degree in child and adolescent development from California State University, Fullerton. She was in the middle of studying for a master’s in counseling when she got pregnant with octuplets. She avidly supports birth control for dogs and cats and was able to make fun of herself to a degree when one sign read that people shouldn’t let their pets become an Octomom.

“Octomom” Nadya Suleman has changed her pattern of bombarding news with unsavory headlines. This is evidenced by the lack of news she’s now seen in versus the material she gave tabloids multiple times per year. Perhaps she’s come full circle and is embarking on a new journey she and her children can be proud of.

[Photo by Toby Canham/Getty Images]