Most people would say it was inevitable. According to reports, Nadya Suleman, otherwise known as Octomom has reached a deal to star with her children in a reality show. Talk of a reality show has been going on since she brought some of her children from the hospital earlier this year. Suleman gave birth to her octuplets on January 26.

Reports indicate that the contracts were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday July 24. A judge’s approval was needed before anything could be finalized, but the children will earn a total of $250,000 over a three year period. Just to make it clear, this figure won’t be for each child, and of course they won’t be able to touch this money until they turn eighteen or if they choose to legally emancipate themselves before reaching eighteen. Fifteen percent of the money paid to the family will be deposited in what is known as a Coogan Trust Account.

The production company behind the new but not unexpected venture is Eyeworks, which is based in Europe. Some of its other reality show include weight loss hit The Biggest Loser and Breaking Bonaduce, which chronicled the daily life of former Partridge Family star Danny Bonaduce.

When Does it Air?

Filming will commence on Suleman’s new show on September 1, 2009. The first 36 days of shooting will see them earning $125,000. In the second year they will earn $75,000 for 21 days of work and another $50,000 in the third year for 14 days of filming. They will be paid at the same rate for any additional filming done over the days contracted for.The payment is not for each individual child, but collectively. This will see each of her 14 children earning $250 per day of filming.

When the first time video of Suleman’s children was shot it got the attention of state regulators. The website RadarOnline was cited for failing to get the proper authorization for filming the children as they went home from the hospital. Regulators also claimed that the website taped them for periods that are considered illegal and did not have anyone on hand to ensure the safety of the babies.

I hope that during filming of this new show, the safety of the children will remain foremost in the minds of Suleman and everyone involved. I am not sure if people will really tune in given what seems to be widespread public disdain for her. Going forward I wish her and all her children the best.

Pictures of Nadya’s Octuplets

Image Taken from A Different Kind of Blog

NBC scooped the other media outlets today with the first images of the octuplets born in California last month. If you watched the Today Show, you’ve have seen them, otherwise here’s a link to the video. The two week old babies are almost impossibly tiny, but look like they are doing great.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Nadya Suleman, the octuplet’s mother. She’s a single mom living with her own mother, with six other young children, all concived by IVF. Most of the attention has been negative, or very negative, with people commenting on the story with remarks like “I’ll chip in for a hysterectomy” or that she should have her children taken away, or be investigated for child abuse.

Much of the vitriol seems to be coming from people angry that she is going to be making money for having all these babies. Why should she get state support, money from selling her story, free gifts from baby companies, when there are so many other families struggling right now?

The companies giving her diapers are doing out of the goodness of their hearts. The news networks are not covering her story because they approve of her lifestyle or the number of children she has. It’s because it’s good, cheap publicity for the companies. And it’s cheap, compelling television and it sells gossip magazines. The people giving her money are totally in it for their own interests and they are doing it to make money themselves by selling more newspapers and more baby bottles.

And the beneficiaries of all the attention and financial help will hopefully be her children, none of who asked to be born, and with 13 other brothers and sisters, will need all the help that they can get.

This is quite a surprise…
On Monday morning, a woman in California gave birth to octuplets–eight babies at once, that is! And yes indeed, baby number eight was a surprise to the 46-member team at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, near Los Angeles.  “It’s a surprise,” said Dr. Karen Maples, head of the medical team. “Eight newborns are in stable condition and they’re doing quite well.”

Delivered at 31 weeks gestation via cesarean section, six boys and two girls emerged screaming and kicking. All eight babies are stable, but will likely remain in the NICU for another two months. Two of them are on ventilators.

The smallest of the children was just 1 pound 8 ounces, but the largest was 3 pounds 4 ounces–not bad for multiples. The childrens’ names, as well as the parents’, have not yet been released. But the babies were at first identified by the letters A through H as they were lifted out. Maples said the team had practiced the delivery ahead of time, though they were prepared to only make it to baby “G.” “My eyes got to be the size of saucers,” said Dr. Maples. “We just went on and delivered the babies.”

This is the second confirmed live birth of octuplets in the United States. A Houston, Texas, couple had eight babies in 1998, though one of their daughters died within a week. The surviving seven siblings are now in fourth grade. Their parents are Nigerian immigrants, Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi. Their advice to the new parents of octuplets? “Just enjoy it. It’s a blessing, truly a blessing.”

Though the hospital cannot confirm whether the mother used fertility drugs, it is quite likely. Other women with multiples have been advised to “selectively reduce” the weakest babies. But high profile cases, such as this one, continue to defy such medical wisdom. Of course, it may be too early to know whether or not the babies have any medical problems, but families such as the Dilley Sextuplets seem to be progressing without serious health issues. I interviewed the Dilleys at their Indiana home in 1997, and at that time, they were all healthy and well, but a little difficult to corral. So anyway, the fear of just chasing around 2 crawling babies–much less 6 or 8–would be enough to send me running from fertility drugs!

An even bigger shock to me, personally, is the astounding fact that the mother of these new octuplets plans to breastfeed all of them! More power to you, ma’am. You’re amazing. Now, try and get some sleep before they all come home!