Nadya Suleman’s goal in life was to be a mother, her friends and family said. That is why, even with a brood of six including 2-year-old twins, she decided to have more embryos transfered, in hopes, her mother said Friday, of getting “just one more girl.”
“And look what happened. Octuplets. Dear God,” said Angela Suleman, four days after her 33-year-old daughter became only the second person in the U.S. ever to give birth to eight babies at once.
Suleman said her daugther “is obsessed with children. She loves children, she is very good with children, but obviously she overdid herself.”
Angela Suleman said all the children are from the same sperm donor. Her daughter is divorced, but Suleman said the ex-husband was not the father.
Fertility experts, including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, have raised concerns about the number of embryos implanted and whether it was within medical guidelines.
“I cannot see circumstances where any reasonable physician would transfer (so many) embryos into a woman under the age of 35 under any circumstance,” said Arthur Wisot, a fertility doctor in Redondo Beach, Calif., and the author of “Conceptions and Misconceptions.”
The California Medical Board, which investigates doctors, and the California Department of Public Health, which licenses clinics and hospitals, said no doctors or facilities are currently being investigated regarding the births. It is also unlikely that the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services would get involved unless they receive a complaint of child abuse or neglect. Allison Frickman, a friend of Suleman’s, said the mother simply wanted more kids.
“Her whole life, she couldn’t wait to be a mom,” Frickman said. “That was her number one goal. … It was not any intention other than to have children. There was no overriding situation, other than having more children to love. But financial or fame was not part of her intention.”
Suleman’s mother said she could not really explain her daughter’s decision.
Her daughter has always loved children, her mother said. Then she sighed. “I wish she would have become a kindergarten teacher.”
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