Octomom in rehab after years under intense media spotlight

Octomom – mother of the longest-surviving octuplets, plus six other children, all conceived through in vitro fertility treatments – checked into rehab this week. She has been constantly in the media spotlight since her octuplets were born four years ago.

|
Antelope Valley Press/AP
Nadya Suleman, also known as "Octomom," poses with some of her 14 children at their new home in Palmdale, Calif. last week.

"Octomom" Nadya Suleman – under an intense media spotlight since giving birth to octuplets in 2009 – has checked herself into a rehabilitation center, citing anxiety, exhaustion and stress, a spokeswoman for the mother of 14 said Tuesday.

Ms. Suleman had been under a doctor's care to deal with her problems, but she felt she needed a treatment program to help with her recovery, spokeswoman Gina Rodriguez said in a statement.

TEST YOURSELF: Are you a Helicopter Parent?

Suleman checked herself into the Chapman House Treatment Center on Oct. 23 and "will be in treatment for 28 days or more if needed," Ms. Rodriguez said.

The rehab facility declined to confirm it is caring for Suleman because of patient confidentiality laws.

Meanwhile, three nannies and two of Suleman's friends will care for her octuplets, who will be 4 years old in January, and her six older children.

A driver will take the kids to and from school, and their Palmdale home in the Mojave Desert has around-the-clock security, Rodriguez said.

Suleman has repeatedly been investigated by social services over allegations of neglect and child abuse. Prosecutors decided not to file charges earlier this month following the most recent allegations. Rodriguez said the woman who made the allegations was obsessed with Suleman's children.

Suleman had lived in Orange County until she moved her brood to the Palmdale home earlier this month. After the move, she told the local newspaper she was happy because she was no longer receiving death threats.

Over the past four years, Suleman has tried to cash in on her notoriety in a variety of ways, including endorsing milkshakes, making a pornographic video, posing for semi-nude photo shoots and participating in celebrity boxing matches.

Rodriguez said the rehab center offered to treat Suleman at no charge, but she opted to pay for the program.

All 14 of Suleman's children were conceived through in vitro fertility treatments. Her octuplets are the world's longest-surviving set.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Octomom in rehab after years under intense media spotlight
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/2012/1031/Octomom-in-rehab-after-years-under-intense-media-spotlight
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe