Octomom Nadya Suleman reveals her hope to finally shed her infamous nickname. Photo / Getty
Octomom Nadya Suleman reveals her hope to finally shed her infamous nickname. Photo / Getty
She shot to fame back in 2009 after welcoming octuplets via IVF.
And almost eight years later Natalie - formerly Nadya - Suleman has returned to the spotlight to discuss her much-hated public persona on the syndicated daytime series, The Doctors.
In a video shared with People, the 41-year-old reveals her hope to finally shed her infamous nickname, gushing: "My history was haunting us."
"I never set out to become an Octomom," the mother-of-14 explained in a pre-recorded clip - set to air Tuesday - adding: "I've always wanted a big family - not this big!"
When she first rose to fame, Natalie, who already had six children at the time, received criticism for choosing to have more via IVF despite being unemployed and living on benefits.
Octomom Nadya Suleman reveals her hope to finally shed her infamous nickname. Photo / Getty
She explained on the episode that she felt ashamed for being on government assistance, which led to her posing nude and starring in an adult film, which she now regrets.
"Rather than go get more public assistance, which I already felt ashamed of, I ended up selling myself out," Natalie said.
However, Natalie said that at the time she had believed the jobs were "like an investment so that I could support my family."
Natalie has Elijiah, Amerah, Joshua, Aiden, and twins Calyssa and Caleb in addition to octuplets Jonah, Nariah, Josiah, Maliah, Isaiah, Noah, Jeremiah and Makai.
"I believe the judgment I experienced was warranted because what were people supposed to believe? All they were being fed by the media was negativity," Natalie added.
Natalie revealed that she began to buy into the hate surrounding her public persona, sharing: "There's nobody, possibly, who could have hated 'Octomom' more than I."
She shared that she wanted to return to the spotlight now to set the record straight, as her family was not able to shake her public persona.
"I went back to my life as a counselor. I went back and my kids had a healthy, happy life.
"The problem is it's followed us, because people never knew what I did. They never knew the true story,' she explained.
Natalie also said she didn't want to be a "burden," on taxpayers, and that her goal was to "move forward and not to be a burden on anyone in society."
She said the she owned her "poor choices," but that they don't "take away from how extraordinary these kids ended up turning out to be."
