Mother of the week

As you would expect, we’re learning more about Nadya Suleman (or Sulemon; it’s appeared both ways in the media), the woman who increased her brood to 14 with the birth of octuplets a while ago.

She’s started making the rounds of talk shows to explain why she felt compelled to keep having babies. Both her publicists & her relatives have made it clear that one of their options to support all those children (oldest being seven) is to receive payment for her story, although NBC has repeatedly said that they handed over no money for the exclusive interview with Ann Curry.

Still, it’s early days on that count, so expect to see news of deals, although from what she’s said so far it’s more of a “whaaaaa??” story than a Hallmark moment.

Suleman’s yearning for children was apparently so strong that even after her first birth via in vitro, she went through something that seems to have been further off the scale than just post-partum depression. I’m not even sure I can make sense out of this (from the Curry interview):

“I just longed for certain connections and attachments with another person that I -- I really lacked, I believe, growing up. I didn't feel as though, when I was a child, I had much control of my environment. I felt powerless. And that gave me a sense of predictability. I -- reflecting back on my childhood, I know it wasn't functional. It was pretty -- pretty dysfunctional, and whose isn't?”

(This must be annoying to her parents, with whom she & her children are living.)

But basically, what I think she’s saying is that she wanted to have a child, which would somehow fix her life. That doesn’t sound really good as a basis for having even one baby. But wouldn’t one of her physicians have questioned whether she should keep coming back for more?

The LA Times has uncovered records (based on a workman’s compensation claim) that indicate that both during and after pregnancy Suleman had extreme emotional swings—which probably isn’t out of place, given the hormonal surges. But saying she just wanted to die? Was this not a, you know, red flag?

Well, I’m guessing we’ll hear a lot more from & about Suleman, her family, her expectations & a whole lot of other stuff.

However, I’d like to hear about what her medical caregivers were thinking.