‘Octomom’ Reflects on Parenting, College Lessons and Raising 14 Kids With Strict Rules

Nadya “Octomom” Suleman, has put her college major to work in a very important area of her life – her kids. Nadya, who graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a bachelor’s degree, said that her studies in the child and adolescent major at the college has helped her learn the importance of setting rules for her 14 kids.

“With Elijah, then Amerah, and then Josh, and then Aidan, and then the twins, I kept going to school,” Nadya, 49, said during an interview with People published on Saturday, March 8, referring to the six children she welcomed via IVF before giving birth to the octuplets in 2009.

She continued, “So I was also raising them on campus with me, and I was earning my bachelor’s degree while taking 18 units in school and taking care of all my kids. I wasn’t like the media portrayed, this unemployed welfare recipient. It was not the case at all.”

However, Nadya admitted that she “felt like she failed as a parent” when it came to implementing “all of the knowledge [she] acquired in college.”

“I raised them just permissive, which is wrong. You shouldn’t do that. You should implement consistent structure, discipline and consequences, plus love, unconditional love and acceptance,” she explained to the publication. “I only did the latter. I shouldn’t have spoiled them. I learned the hard way. But I still raised them to be kind and humble. I was able to implement both a combination of unconditional love, positive regard and structured discipline consequences.”

The California native’s daughter Nariya described her as a “strict” mom. The list of rules that Nadya had for her children included no dating until they reached the age of 18 and no cell phones. She revealed that the family has “one phone for communication.”

Nadya also enacted a hard ban on social media for her kids.

“It’s toxic. I don’t even like going on it. I only do it to share and I dread it,” Nadya confessed. “It’s like I can’t even imagine the kids these days. It’s so unhealthy. I don’t believe anyone should go on social media, or be allowed on until they’re 18 at least.”

The former adult film star said that it was important to her to teach her kids to “not be fixated on themselves.”

“It’s very different today. I’m a little more old school in how I’m raising my kids to focus on others, try to value serving because then the byproduct of that is internal joy and happiness, rather than, no offense to other people and other kids these days, but they tend to be a little more, let’s just say self-absorbed and self-entitled. I’m raising my kids to be aware of that and try to deviate away from that,” Nadya explained.

Nadya gained the nickname “Octomom” when she gave birth to the world’s first surviving octuplets in 2008. Dr. Michael Kamrava implanted 12 embryos at the time, and it ultimately led to him having his medical license revoked. Medical guidelines advise implanting no more than two embryos at a time.

She continued to make headlines after their birth when she was accused of taking advantage of government assistance to help her conceive. However, Nadya slammed the claims.

“I did not use taxpayers’ money. I’d saved so much money working as a psychiatric technician at a state psych hospital. I saved well over a hundred thousand dollars,” she said. “I used all of that money. Instead of buying a house, I bought in vitros. I also had an inheritance close to $60,000 that paid for it too, which I’m not proud of. It should have gone for my older kids. I also got student loans, but I paid for everything, period.”