Octuplets' Mom On Welfare, Spokesman Confirms

Postby Marinepits » February 10th, 2009, 10:35 am

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490269,00.html

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

LOS ANGELES — The Southern California mother of octuplets receives $490 a month in food stamps and three of her first six children are disabled and receiving federal assistance, her publicist confirmed Monday evening.

Spokesman Michael Furtney said Nadya Suleman did not want to disclose the nature of the disabilities, or the type or sum of the payments.

Furtney confirmed the public assistance payments after two sources told The Los Angeles Times that Suleman was receiving food stamps and federal supplemental security income.

"In her view these are just payments made for people with legitimate needs and are not, in her view, welfare," Furtney said. "She just believes that there are programs for people with needs and she and her children qualify for some of them."

In an interview that aired Monday, Suleman told NBC "Today" show anchor Ann Curry that she does not receive welfare.

Her six other children are under the age of 7. All 14 children were the result of in-vitro fertilization.

Suleman was implanted with embryos at a Beverly Hills fertility clinic run by a well-known — and controversial — specialist who pioneered a method of implantation.

Dr. Michael Kamrava's name emerged Monday as a result of the interview aired Monday with Suleman, who gave birth to eight babies Jan. 26.

Over the past two weeks, the identity of Suleman's fertility doctor has been a source of great mystery because of questions over the ethics of implanting numerous embryos in a woman who already had six children.

Kamrava, 57, would not comment on the issue, but told reporters outside his clinic on Rodeo Drive that he had granted an interview to one of the television networks. When asked to provide more detail, he said, "Watch the news."

Without identifying the doctor, the Medical Board of California said last week it was looking into the Suleman case to see if there was a "violation of the standard of care." The medical board said Monday it has not taken any disciplinary action against Kamrava in the past.

In the NBC interview, Suleman did not identify her doctor by name, but said that she went to the West Coast IVF Clinic in Beverly Hills — of which Kamrava is director — and that all 14 of her children were conceived with help from the same doctor. In 2006, Los Angeles TV station KTLA ran a story on infertility that showed Kamrava treating Suleman and discussing embryo implantation.

Kamrava graduated from the University of Illinois and went to medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, according to state records and his Web site.

Some fertility specialists said Kamrava is a controversial figure in the field.

"He's tried some novel techniques and some of those methods have been controversial," said Dr. John Jain, founder of Santa Monica Fertility Specialists.

Jain criticized the decision to implant so many embryos, saying: "I do think that this doctor really stepped outside the guidelines in a very extreme manner, and as such, put both the mother and children at extra high risk of disability and even death."

Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, a professional acquaintance of Kamrava's, said Kamrava worked to develop an embryo transfer device that allows doctors to implant an embryo — or sometimes sperm with an unfertilized egg — directly into the uterine lining.

"Usually we inject the embryos into the uterus and they float around and attach themselves," Steinberg said. However, Steinberg said there was no evidence the method improved success rates for pregnancy.

It was not immediately known if the technique was used on Suleman.

Suleman said she had six embryos implanted for each of her pregnancies. The octuplets were a surprise result of her last set of six embryos, she said, explaining she had expected twins at most. Two of the embryos evidently divided in the womb.

Medical ethicists have criticized the implanting of so many embryos. National guidelines put the norm at two to three embryos for a woman of Suleman's age, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Kamrava's clinic performed 20 in vitro procedures on women under 35 in 2006, according to the most recent national report compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those 20 procedures, four resulted in pregnancies and two in births. One woman delivered twins.

The average number of embryos he transferred per procedure for women under 35 was 3.5, the report said. Fertility doctors often implant more than one embryo to increase the chances that one will take hold.

An in-vitro procedure typically costs between $8,000 and $15,000. Asked on NBC how she was able to afford the treatments, Suleman said she had saved money and used some of the more than $165,000 in disability payments she received after being injured in a 1999 riot at a state mental hospital where she worked.

Dr. Richard Paulson, who heads the fertility program at the University of Southern California, cautioned against rushing to judgment about the fertility treatment in this case because questions remain about the quality of Suleman's eggs and whether there were any extraordinary circumstances that would lead Kamrava to transfer so many embryos.

As for the technique Kamrava pioneered, "those of us who are the scientists in the field do not feel this is a significant improvement," Paulson said. He said some doctors advertise that technique as "a way of making patients feel that they are trying something new."

Suleman, who is 33 and single, told NBC's "Today" show she was "fixated" on having children. Suleman said her doctor "did nothing wrong" and had warned her of possible complications to the pregnancy and risks to the development of the babies.

The octuplets were born nine weeks prematurely but appear relatively healthy. Their names have a Biblical theme: Noah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Josiah, Isaiah, Maliyah, Makai and Nariyah. All share the middle name Angel and the last name Solomon.

On Sunday, Suleman's mother, Angela Suleman, seemed to contradict her daughter's account, telling a Web site the fertility specialist who helped her daughter give birth to the octuplets was not the one who aided in the birth of her first six children.

In an interview with celebrity news Web site RadarOnline.com, Angela Suleman said she and Nadya's father pleaded with her first fertility doctor not to treat their daughter again. She said her daughter went to another doctor.

"I'm really angry about that," Angela Suleman said of the doctor's decision to perform the procedure. "She already has six beautiful children. Why would she do this? I'm struggling to look after her six. We had to put in bunk beds, feed them in shifts and there's children's clothing piled all over the house."

Angela Suleman said Nadya's boyfriend was the biological father of all 14 children, but that she refused to marry him.

"He was in love with her and wanted to marry her," she said. "But Nadya wanted to have children on her own."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Postby TheRedQueen » February 10th, 2009, 10:42 am

:mad2:
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Postby dogged » February 10th, 2009, 10:47 am

Surprise.
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Postby KJS » February 10th, 2009, 12:49 pm

madness...pure and simple...madness :crazy2:
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Postby TheRedQueen » February 11th, 2009, 2:00 am

How the smurf is she getting disability for "ADHD" and a "speech delay"... :nono:
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Postby Marinepits » February 11th, 2009, 9:35 am

I heard a couple of reports this morning, one saying that she supposedly had plastic surgery to look like Angelina Jolie -- she denies it and said that their likeness and multiple children is just a coincidence. Another report said that she deliberately falsified the father's name on the birth certificates. That's a felony and carries a possible 3 year prison term.

Looks like her insurance company is going to ask MediCal to pay for the one million dollar plus medical bills. That means the state of California and the taxpayers will be paying for her kids.
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Postby DemoDick » February 11th, 2009, 9:59 am

TheRedQueen wrote:How the smurf is she getting disability for "ADHD" and a "speech delay"... :nono:


I met a woman who was on disability for "speech and language" problems that prevented her from working. I found this out about ten minutes into a conversation with her and she spoke completely understandable English.

There are so many leeches living off of forcibly seized income that I wonder how much longer employment will even exist. It seems to have been made obsolete, as some people have clearly found a better way to fund their lifestyles.

What sickens me further is that there are a lot of people who would love the opportunity to work and support themselves who cannot due to REAL disabilities.

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Postby Klopfer » February 11th, 2009, 10:00 am

OMG, she would be a rich woman if she would live in germany!

She would get:
Child benefit 1 (for the first 3 children): 492 Euro (640 Dollar) (164 Euro (212 Dollar) per child*3)
Child benefit 2 (for 11 other children): 2145 Euro (2788 Dollar) (195 Euro (253 Dollar) per child*11)

That's a total of 2.637 Euro (3.414 Dollar) she would get just because she has 14 children - EVERY month until the children are 18! (no need to talk about the other social benefits that she could get... :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: )
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Postby TheRedQueen » February 11th, 2009, 10:15 am

Marinepits wrote:I heard a couple of reports this morning, one saying that she supposedly had plastic surgery to look like Angelina Jolie -- she denies it and said that their likeness and multiple children is just a coincidence. Another report said that she deliberately falsified the father's name on the birth certificates. That's a felony and carries a possible 3 year prison term.

Looks like her insurance company is going to ask MediCal to pay for the one million dollar plus medical bills. That means the state of California and the taxpayers will be paying for her kids.


Did you watch the interview with Ann Curry last night...the octo-mom looks like Angelina Jolie...it's spooky. There is obviously work done...how did she get that $$$?

And she was very odd...when asked how she'd be supporting them, she just went off on how she has time to hold them and comfort them, and how many parents have time for that anymore? Ann was like, but you have no job or money. She just kept saying that she would love them and hold them. Ah...okay. :crazy2:
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Postby Marinepits » February 11th, 2009, 11:03 am

TheRedQueen wrote:Did you watch the interview with Ann Curry last night...the octo-mom looks like Angelina Jolie...it's spooky. There is obviously work done...how did she get that $$$?


I couldn't stomach watching the whole interview. It was all over the morning newscasts, though. :neutral: Dr Phil is doing a "debate" show on it today -- he sounds PISSED about the whole thing, LOL.

And it's pretty obvious that she's had some kind of plastic surgery done. It is spooky. :shock:
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Postby CinderDee » February 11th, 2009, 1:01 pm

I couldn't watch the interview and changed the channel after about 15 min.

Here's her site. Note the paypal button. :neutral:
http://www.thenadyasulemanfamily.com/
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Postby amazincc » February 11th, 2009, 5:10 pm

Gah... she annoys the crap out of me.

There's a reason why women aren't supposed to have litters. :rolleyes2:
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Postby cheekymunkee » February 11th, 2009, 5:27 pm

I havent watched anything she is on because I am pissed that they are paying and interviewing the bitch. :mad2:
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Postby Hoyden » February 11th, 2009, 5:31 pm

Wanna know what I find highly amusing??

That you can leave a comment, but you can't SEE the other comments that people have left. I wonder how many messages have been left telling her that she is selfish and deluded?
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Postby Pit♥bull » February 11th, 2009, 5:39 pm

amazincc wrote:There's a reason why women aren't supposed to have litters. :rolleyes2:
LMAO
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Postby Marinepits » February 11th, 2009, 6:07 pm

Speaking of the website......

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491130,00.html

Web Site Created to Accept Donations for Octuplets' Mom
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By Joshua Rhett Miller

Despite the controversy surrounding the California mother who gave birth to octuplets last month, donations have been flowing in to a Web site created for the massive family, FOXNews.com has learned.

The Web site, thenadyasulemanfamily.com, was created by the Killeen Furtney Group, a Los Angeles-based public relations and marketing firm retained by Suleman following the birth of her six boys and two girls. Suleman's publicist, Joann Killeen, declined to indicated how much had been donated thus far, but stressed that her firm designed the Web site for free.

"We put it together because of the massive public interest in Nadya and her family," Killeen told FOXNews.com Wednesday. "We wanted to give people the ability to make donations and send comments to the family."

Killeen said donations have already poured in, including books, clothing, cribs, bedding and diapers.

"People have been calling us from around the world trying to make donations," Killeen said. "We needed to provide a vehicle where people could write to the family or make donations because everyone wants to donate."

Killeen added, "All of this is pro bono. We haven't taken a penny."

The eight babies — who are less than three weeks old — are "healthy and growing stronger by the day," according to the Web site.

Suleman — a 33-year-old divorced, single mother who already had six children — told NBC's "Today" in an interview broadcast Wednesday that her family receives no cash from the government and that the $490 in food stamps she receives are "not affiliated with welfare."

Suleman also told NBC she intends to go back to school to pursue her master's degree. In the meantime, she said she'll support her children with student loans until she can find a job as a counselor after graduating in a year or two.

The eight babies — Noah, Maliah, Isaiah, Nariah, McCai, Josiah, Jeremiah and Jonah — weighed between 1 pound 8 ounces and 3 pounds 4 ounces at birth, according to the site.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Postby Marinepits » February 11th, 2009, 8:45 pm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491204,00.html

Octuplet Family Financial Burden May Fall on Taxpayers
Wednesday, February 11, 2009

LOS ANGELES — A big share of the financial burden of raising Nadya Suleman's 14 children could fall on the shoulders of California's taxpayers, compounding the public furor in a state already billions of dollars in the red.

Even before the 33-year-old single, unemployed mother gave birth to octuplets last month, she had been caring for her six other children with the help of $490 a month in food stamps, plus Social Security disability payments for three of the youngsters. The public aid will almost certainly be increased with the new additions to her family.

Also, the hospital where the octuplets are expected to spend seven to 12 weeks has requested reimbursement from Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, for care of the premature babies, according to the Los Angeles Times. The cost has not been disclosed.

Word of the public assistance has stoked the furor over Suleman's decision to have so many children by having embryos implanted in her womb.

"It appears that, in the case of the Suleman family, raising 14 children takes not simply a village but the combined resources of the county, state and federal governments," Los Angeles Times columnist Tim Rutten wrote in Wednesday's paper. He called Suleman's story "grotesque."

On the Internet, bloggers rained insults on Suleman, calling her an "idiot," criticizing her decision to have more children when she couldn't afford the ones she had, and suggesting she be sterilized.

"It's my opinion that a woman's right to reproduce should be limited to a number which the parents can pay for," Charles Murray wrote in a letter to the Los Angeles Daily News. "Why should my wife and I, as taxpayers, pay child support for 14 Suleman kids?"

She was also berated on talk radio, where listeners accused her of manipulating the system and being an irresponsible mother.

"From the outside you can tell that this woman was playing the system," host Bryan Suits said on the "Kennedy and Suits" show on KFI-AM. "You're damn right the state should step in and seize the kids and adopt them out."

A call to Suleman's publicist Mike Furtney was not immediately returned.

In her only media interviews, Suleman told NBC's "Today" she doesn't consider the public assistance she receives to be welfare and doesn't intend to remain on it for long.

Also, a Nadya Suleman Family Web Site has been set up to collect donations for the children. It features pictures of the mother and each octuplet and has instructions for making donations by check or credit card.

Suleman, whose six older children range in age from 2 to 7, said three of them receive disability payments. She said one is autistic, but she has not disclosed the other youngsters' disabilities, and refused to say how much they get in payments.

In California, a low-income family can receive Social Security payments of up to $793 a month for each disabled child. Three children would amount to $2,379.

The Suleman octuplets' medical costs have not been disclosed, but in 2006, the average cost for a premature baby's hospital stay in California was $164,273, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The average cost for just one cesarean birth in 2006 was $22,762 in California. Eight times that equals $1.3 million.

For a single mother, the cost of raising 14 children through age 17 ranges from $1.3 million to $2.7 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is struggling to close a $42 billion budget gap by cutting services, declined through a spokesman to comment on the taxpayer costs associated with the octuplets' delivery and care.

Suleman received disability payments for an on-the-job back injury during a riot at a state mental hospital, collecting more than $165,000 over nearly a decade before the benefits were discontinued last year.

Some of the disability money was spent on in vitro fertilizations, which was used for all 14 of her children, Suleman said. Suleman said she also worked double shifts at the mental hospital and saved up for the treatments. She estimated that all her treatments cost $100,000.

A dozen states, including California, have laws requiring insurance companies to cover infertility treatment, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But California does not require insurers to cover in vitro procedures. It's not clear what type of coverage Suleman has.

In the NBC interview, Suleman said she will go back to California State University, Fullerton in the fall to complete her master's degree in counseling, and will use student loans to support her children. She said she will rely on the school's daycare center and volunteers.
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Postby amazincc » February 11th, 2009, 9:01 pm

Marinepits wrote:In the NBC interview, Suleman said she will go back to California State University, Fullerton in the fall to complete her master's degree in counseling, and will use student loans to support her children. She said she will rely on the school's daycare center and volunteers.



Interesting... the blind leading the blind. What are the odds? :crazy2: :rolleyes2:
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Postby KJS » February 13th, 2009, 2:04 pm

"From the outside you can tell that this woman was playing the system," host Bryan Suits said on the "Kennedy and Suits" show on KFI-AM. "You're damn right the state should step in and seize the kids and adopt them out
."

Bryan gets my vote!
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