00:00She was one of the most controversial figures in recent history. Her unusual desire when it came
00:12to having children would create tons of bad publicity and backlash across a nation. Let's
00:18take a look back at the wild story of the infamous optomom and find out what actually happened.
00:24Having big families was quite the common occurrence in the past. More children not only meant continuing
00:32a lineage for the foreseeable future, but it also was a key element when it came to survival
00:37and also provided free labor for a household. Over time, as technology improved and society
00:44had evolved past this way of thinking, smaller families became the new norm across the world.
00:51But in 2009 a single mother of four would shake things up quite a bit. Nadia Salman longed
00:57for a big family after growing up an only child. She decided to get married very young in hopes
01:04to start a family of her own. Unfortunately for the newlyweds, they would face trouble conceiving.
01:11For nearly seven years they tried to have kids using various methods, but they were all unsuccessful.
01:18With not many options remaining, she discovered the new and very expensive IVF procedure for
01:23those struggling to have children. The process consisted of eggs being extracted from the ovaries
01:29and combined with sperm in a lab to ultimately create an embryo. A single treatment approximately
01:35could cost up to $10,000. But Nadia was determined to have a child, and she worked countless hours
01:42saving up the money. Unfortunately, while working hard to secure the funds needed, her marriage
01:48would fall apart. But despite being newly single, Salman still was determined to have a baby by any means.
01:56After saving enough cash for the procedure, she asked a close male friend to donate his sperm.
02:02He would oblige to the very unusual request which had implications of no strings attached.
02:07Nadia was finally able to do the impossible. The treatment would be a success, and she had her
02:15first child. But she wasn't quite satisfied yet with just one. Salman would continue to go back for
02:22more IVF cycles, resulting in a total of six kids in six years. For most single mothers,
02:29raising multiple kids alone is quite the challenge to say the least. And Nadia's situation would be no
02:35different. Her mother offered much needed help and allowed her family to move into her home
02:42while she went back to school to pursue a degree. Now in her early 30s and her reproductive window
02:49rapidly closing, she decided to try for one more child with the embryos she had frozen from her past
02:55treatments. In what would be considered unsafe by most medical experts, she opted to have all six
03:01embryos implanted in her uterus. Weeks later, during the routine checkup, it was revealed she was once
03:09again pregnant, but not with one baby or two. But seven fetuses were growing inside of her belly.
03:17This came as a shock, but Nadia was very excited with the news. After months of carrying, there would be
03:25some health complications that resulted in her needing to deliver the babies much sooner than
03:30expected. All seven infants were delivered safely, but there was another unexpected surprise for the
03:36single mother. There was another baby inside her belly, making the total now eight children.
03:43It was a massive oversight from the initial ultrasound. Nadia became only the second-ever woman
03:49to successfully give birth to a set of octuplets in U.S. history. Due to it being such a milestone in
03:55modern medicine, the news would spread everywhere. With Nadia's identity still under wraps, the reaction
04:02was positive from the public. But the celebration wouldn't last for very long. Shortly after the news
04:09broke of an octuplet birth, the media did more digging. Salman was later identified as the mother,
04:16and she was famously coined the optomom. Then the backlash and public uproar began.
04:22It was soon revealed she was single, had no job, already had six children prior,
04:27then decided to have octuplets. Many thought it was quite selfish, given her less-than-ideal
04:34situation. Other mothers, wondering how could she possibly financially afford to take care of 14 kids
04:40alone? After swirling in so much controversy in the news, Nadia decided to address the media about
04:49her decision to have so many children once and for all. The public interviews didn't help her case at
04:55all. People feel, you know, this woman is being completely irresponsible and selfish to bring
05:05these children in the world without a clear source of income and enough help to raise them. I know how
05:12people to afford them when I'm done with my schooling. If I were just sitting down watching tv and not being
05:18as determined as I am to succeed and have a better, provide a better future for my children, I believe
05:23that would be considered to a certain degree selfish. So the world outside is saying what are you doing?
05:29I'm providing myself to my children. I'm loving them unconditionally, accepting them unconditionally.
05:35Everything I do, I'll stop my life for them and be present with them and hold them and be with them.
05:42And how many parents do that? I'm sure there are many that do but many don't and that's unfortunate and
05:47that is selfish. Did you use the same fertility specialist for all of your pregnancies? Yes.
05:51So your fertility specialist knew that you already had six children? Yes. How many embryos were you
05:58implanted with? The same as with the others, six. Did he explain to you the risks of a multiple birth?
06:05Oh with all of them, absolutely with all of them. You didn't want just one or two embryos? Of course
06:10not, I wanted them all transferred. Those are my, those are my children. The mother is unemployed,
06:16doesn't have her own home, has six kids because they're in the waiting room. It doesn't sound
06:21good. I agree with you. But you know, I've seen enough situations where things look one way and then
06:26once you start picking at it and the story comes out, there's some extenuating circumstances. So I
06:31keep holding out hope that there are going to be extenuating circumstances. Give me an example of what
06:36could be something to mitigate the ridiculousness of how this appears. Well, I must admit I can't think of
06:41anything, but that doesn't mean that it's not going to come out. I adore my kids. I love all
06:47children. No, you don't want any more. You don't want any more, right? Not anymore. That's why I was
06:53so, I was so emotional with that. I do not want any more children. I got you. So have you had your
06:58tubes tied? See, you, see, most people don't even really understand the true story I've had in vitro.
07:05I cannot, first and foremost, I've chosen a life of celibacy for 12 years. That wouldn't even,
07:10how could I possibly get pregnant? Would it be immaculate conception? What the heck? No,
07:15I, I, there's no possible way I could even get pregnant. I don't, I don't, I don't touch anybody.
07:20You know what I mean? So seriously, what's the point of tying my tubes? Okay. First,
07:25I don't touch anybody. Second, let me talk. Second, second, I, I, I don't, I, how could I,
07:31how could I, you know, I don't be, I'm not with anyone physically and, and, and I can't,
07:34and if I were, if it was a miracle and I were with someone in the far, far future, I can't conceive
07:38via natural procreation because of the past endometriosis and all of the reproductive
07:44problems I had, which, which is the reason I, I went through the route of in vitro fertilization.
07:49Okay. Can I talk now? Yes, you can. Okay. I'm sorry. So you would not do in vitro anymore,
07:56I'm assuming then. Oh, no, no, no, no. You're not having sex, but you won't do that again. You're
08:00done. No, no. The shop is closed. Done, done, done, done. Beyond factory, baby factory closed.
08:06The outrage continued to brew, with some people even choosing to protest outside her home,
08:12and thousands more professing she should lose custody of them. While all the negative publicity
08:17indeed boosted her celebrity, she was still struggling financially, like many predicted she would.
08:24Over time, the intrigue faded surrounding the family, but her personal troubles weren't over.
08:29With no GoFundMe sites in existence at the time, she fell into a dark spiral.
08:36Just three years after becoming the infamous optomom,
08:40Sulman was forced to file for bankruptcy, claiming to be in severe debt, due to student loans,
08:45having no job, and supporting 14 children on her own.
08:50Nadia later decided to appear in a softcore adult film,
08:54using the famous moniker to make some fast cash. Not only did she do that to stay afloat,
09:00she also decided to start dancing in strip clubs. Once again the public disapproved of her decisions,
09:06and questioned her as a mother. Legal troubles later arose for Sulman, as the state of California
09:13accused her of welfare fraud. Claiming she failed to report income, while receiving over $20,000 in
09:20government assistance. Over time her celebrity continued to dwindle, and the world would move on
09:26from the optomom. But what are your thoughts on this story? Do you think she was acting irresponsibly,
09:33or was her desire for a large family justified? Leave a comment below and let me know.
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