Everyone remembers the grainy hospital footage from 2009. It was a media circus. People were angry, fascinated, and honestly, a bit judgmental. When Nadya Suleman gave birth to eight babies at once, she didn't just break a medical record; she became a lightning rod for every debate imaginable regarding ethics, public assistance, and IVF.
But that was then.
Today, the house isn't nearly as chaotic as the tabloids would have you believe. The Suleman octuplets today are teenagers. Think about that for a second. The tiny infants who occupied a row of incubators in Bellflower, California, are now navigating high school, driving, and figuring out who they are away from the "Octomom" shadow. It’s a transition that nobody really expected to go this smoothly, especially given the rocky start.
The Reality of Raising Eight Teenagers (Plus Six More)
Life in the Suleman household is basically a masterclass in logistics. You’ve got Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Jonah, Makai, Josiah, and Jeremiah. They turned 16 in January 2025. Yeah, sixteen. That means a house full of people who are taller than their mother, have their own opinions, and—thankfully for Nadya’s sanity—help out with the chores.
The image of the "out-of-control" household that the media pushed in the early 2010s has largely evaporated. Why? Because the kids are surprisingly grounded. Nadya, who now goes by Natalie, has been very open about the fact that she had to "kill" the Octomom persona to survive. She’s described that era as a "caricature" she played to pay the bills. It was a dark time involving adult film work and stripping that she now speaks of with a lot of regret, but also a sense of "I did what I had to do to feed fourteen kids."
They live in a relatively modest three-bedroom townhome in Orange County. If you’re wondering how fourteen kids and one mom fit in there, the answer is: barely. It’s cramped. It’s loud. But according to Natalie’s social media updates and the occasional interview, it’s also remarkably disciplined.
🔗 Read more: What Really Happened With the Death of John Candy: A Legacy of Laughter and Heartbreak
The kids are vegan. They run 5Ks together. They are active in their church. It’s a far cry from the tabloid predictions that these children would end up as "wards of the state" or troubled delinquents. Honestly, they seem more adjusted than many kids coming out of "normal" sized families.
How the Suleman Octuplets Today Handle the Fame
Growing up as a "set" isn't easy. You aren't just John or Sarah; you're "one of the octuplets."
Natalie has made a concerted effort to let them be individuals. While they often celebrate their birthdays together—usually with a big vegan pizza party and outdoor activities—they have distinct personalities. Some are more athletic; some are more introverted and into arts. They don't do the reality TV thing anymore. They aren't chasing TikTok fame. In fact, for the most part, they seem to actively avoid the spotlight that burned their mother so badly.
The financial side of things is always what people ask about first. "How do they afford it?"
It's a struggle. It always has been. Natalie has mentioned that they live paycheck to paycheck, largely supported by public assistance in the past, but more recently by her work as a counselor and the occasional paid media appearance. They aren't rich. They aren't living the "Kardashian" lifestyle. They are a working-class family that happens to be enormous.
💡 You might also like: Is There Actually a Wife of Tiger Shroff? Sorting Fact from Viral Fiction
Breaking the Medical Mold
Medical experts were genuinely worried about these kids in 2009. Octuplets usually face a lifetime of developmental delays, respiratory issues, or neurological challenges. The odds were stacked against them.
However, the Suleman octuplets today are a bit of a medical miracle. They are healthy. They are thriving academically. While some of the older six siblings (the ones born before the octuplets) have faced challenges—one of her sons, Aidan, is severely autistic and requires 24/7 care—the octuplets themselves have largely avoided the major health pitfalls associated with high-order multiple births.
This is likely due to a mix of sheer luck and a very strict health regimen. Natalie is a self-described "health nut." No junk food. Lots of raw veggies. Constant physical activity. You might disagree with her past choices, but it's hard to argue with the physical health of those kids.
The Shift from "Octomom" to Natalie
To understand where the family is now, you have to look at the transformation of the mother. She dropped the "Nadya" name. She went back to her roots. She stopped trying to be a celebrity.
The turning point was around 2013 when she checked into rehab for an addiction to Xanax, which she says was prescribed to help her deal with the crippling anxiety of her life. Since then, she’s been sober and focused entirely on the kids. She’s become a bit of a recluse, only posting on Instagram to share milestones or "raw" glimpses of their life—like the mountain of laundry they have to do every single day.
📖 Related: Bea Alonzo and Boyfriend Vincent Co: What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
There’s a level of transparency now that feels more authentic than the staged paparazzi shoots of the past. She talks about the "hell" she went through and the mistakes she made with IVF. Dr. Michael Kamrava, the doctor who implanted the twelve embryos that led to the octuplets, lost his medical license over the case. Natalie doesn't defend that anymore. She acknowledges it was a massive mistake.
Why We Are Still Obsessed
Why do we care about the Suleman octuplets today?
Maybe it’s because they represent our own fears about family, money, and "too muchness." We watched the train wreck in real-time, and part of us expected them to fail. When they didn't—when they turned into polite, veggie-eating, cross-country-running teenagers—it challenged the narrative we built for them.
It’s a story of redemption, kinda. Not a perfect one, but a real one.
The kids are now at an age where they can speak for themselves. In the few times they’ve been allowed to talk to the press, they’ve expressed a lot of love for their mother. They see her as a protector, not a punchline. That says a lot.
Actionable Takeaways for Following the Story
If you’re looking to keep up with the family or learn from their unique dynamic, keep these points in mind:
- Follow the Source Directly: Natalie Suleman’s official Instagram is the only place where you get the unvarnished reality of their lives. She often posts about their vegan lifestyle and the logistics of managing a 14-child household.
- Look for the Nuance: Don't rely on 2010-era tabloid clippings. The family’s situation has changed drastically. The "Octomom" persona is dead; the "Natalie" reality is much more mundane and domestic.
- Understand the IVF Legacy: The Suleman case changed the way fertility clinics operate in the U.S. Guidelines from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) became much stricter regarding the number of embryos transferred, specifically to avoid "high-order multiples" like this.
- Focus on the Kids' Privacy: As they hit 16 and 17, the octuplets are entering a phase where they deserve their own identities. Avoid sharing or consuming content that treats them as a "freak show" and instead look for the stories of their individual achievements in school and sports.
The story of the Suleman octuplets isn't over, but the "circus" phase is long gone. What's left is a very large, very loud, and surprisingly normal family trying to make it in a world that once bet against them.