Nadya Suleman, who made international headlines in 2009 after revealing she would give birth to octuplets, has shared a rare pic of her eight youngest children all grown up.
The mom-of-fourteen, widely known as "Octomom," posted the image on her Instagram of her children heading off to eighth grade.
Accompanying the image was the caption: "First day of 8th grade. Be proud of yourselves kids for being kind, respectful, and helpful to all your fellow peers, teachers and staff. You are exceptional role models to the 6th and 7th graders. I love you."
The 47-year-old, who is an "ethical vegan" according to her bio, received almost 9,000 likes on the image.
Some of Suleman's 221,000 followers also commented positively on the image, with one user writing: "Great job mom on raising such great kids! Wishing you all a successful year at school! [sic]."
"Amazing job mama. You should be so proud of your beautiful family. Hope they have a fabulous school year!" another added.
Suleman, who was already a mom to six other children before falling pregnant with the octuplets, has not always has positive reactions to her life choices.
The media was quick to criticize the mom after she fell pregnant with eight children following IVF treatment, due to the fact that she was a single mom who had six other children, who were also conceived through IVF, NBC News reported at the time. Her oldest child will be turning 21 this year.
Due to her mounting financial woes, coupled with the harsh backlash she received due to being unmarried and unemployed, Suleman took on a variety of jobs including a short-lived stint as a porn star.
Suleman later described this as "foolish, immature and selfish," in a 2017 interview with the Daily Mail.
"Every day I would wake up with the most ugly, dead, visceral feeling inside of me [...] I didn't want to live. I felt less than human as that character I was pretending to be, to survive and provide for my family," she admitted.
The doting mom touched upon this in an Instagram post in January 2020.
Posting an image of a quote which read "do not judge my story by the chapter you walked in on," Suleman typed a lengthy caption detailing the pain she endured as Octomom.
She wrote: "First, I would like to focus on you kind supporters who have followed my family from day one, nearly 11 years ago. Thank you, I am grateful for your support. May bountiful blessings be bestowed onto you in this new year."
"The powerful media indoctrinated fragmented pieces of false narrative into the public’s minds, consequently creating a false identity from 2009-2013. Refrain from judging me solely based on the (struggling to survive) season you happened to walk in on," she added.
"Despite the pain of my past, I’ve chosen to use my struggles as stepping stones, promoting my pursuit of achieving the goals I’ve set for my family," the caption concluded.
This post was met with warmth and support from her many followers, who praised the mom on how she has raised her fourteen children.
