Octuplets' Mother Has Six Older Children Already (VIDEO)

The mother in California who gave birth to eight babies on Monday has six children already, CBS news discovered. Today on the Early Show, a segment on the now-doubled family aired. They took cameras to the home and neighborhood where the mom lives in a house with her parents, four older sons and two older daughters. Below the video is the transcript.

WATCH:

RUSS MITCHELL, anchor:

An update now on those octuplets born Monday in Los Angeles. They're doing

well, but when they go home in a couple of months, it will be to a really full

house. EARLY SHOW national correspondent Hattie Kauffman explains.

Story continues below

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HATTIE KAUFFMAN reporting:

CBS News has learned the mother who gave birth to octuplets has six other

children.

Unidentified Man: She lives over there. She's got six kids already.

KAUFFMAN: An acquaintance who didn't want to be identified says the mom has

four older boys and two girls.

Unidentified Woman: She is young, fairly young and she has six children

already.

KAUFFMAN: She already has six children.

Woman: Yes.

KAUFFMAN: So that makes six plus eight is 14.

Woman: Correct. Yes. And in those six children she has a set of twins.

KAUFFMAN: While the hospital has not confirmed that the mom used fertility

drugs, there are no documented cases of naturally conceived octuplets.

Doctors say the babies, born Monday, are all breathing on their own, but the

babies are all under four pounds and are expected to remain in the hospital

for weeks.

The woman and her children live on this cul de sac, with her parents. We

knocked on the door and a man confirmed he's the grandfather of the octuplets,

but he refused to speak to us.

From what you know of this family and this household, do you think that

they'll be able to support 14 kids?

Woman: Well, so far they've been fine with the six they have. Fourteen, I

don't know.

KAUFFMAN: They'll be living in this neighborhood where homes have just two or

three bedrooms. It'll be tight. Hattie Kauffman, CBS News, near Los Angeles.

MITCHELL: It'll be tight. That's the line of the day.

HARRY SMITH, co-host:

Tight.

JULIE CHEN, co-host:

Wow.

MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ, co-host:

Tight and tense, maybe. That's a lot of people.

SMITH: I'm the youngest of eight. Eight is a lot.

CHEN: You're the youngest of eight.

SMITH: Yes.

Comments

[Denni]

Honest to goodness! People on welfare don't get RICH by having more children. I don't understand the comments suggesting that this woman is going to live well because of 14 children. she's NEVER going to get the money she needs to ensure they're well cared for.

I'm more concerned about whether this was her CHOICE to have more children? Did she do this for someone else? If she chose to do this, was it an informed, reasoned choice? Is she healthy (medically AND psychologically)? What would make someone who declared bankruptcy with 6 children want 8 more?

Why didn't the hospital know more about her before agreeing to the procedure? Did the hospital have a choice?

[milo h minderbinder]

The hospital didn't do the fertility procedure, the first time they saw her was at 12 weeks.

Whoever did the procedure should have had her full medical history including all the kids already. Whoever it completely disregarded standard medical recommendations and practices and should lose their medical license for gross malpractice.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

This woman's family is from Iraq. In Muslim societies it's permitted to have arranged marriages where the family of the girl is compensated for the marriage.

It is also permitted to have girls marry at a very young age (before 10). I'm just saying....­..

[TheBlackCat]

I don't think anyone is claiming this woman will be rich off of welfare. As you point out, she still won't be able to support her children well.

What people are saying is that she will be receiving a huge ammount in welfare, health care, and tax breaks, she'll have to be, because it's simply implausable that a bankrupt woman will be able to afford 14 children. Certainly she won't get herelf rich, but she still will be receiving taxpayer money, and a lot of it, due to her actions.

indications seem to be that she is a single Mom, so I don't think this is a matter of a man forcing her to do this.

The doctors who delivered these babies are being VERY clear they had nothing to do with her pregnancy. She didn't even seek pre natal care until her second trimester. She is claiming that she received IVF. NO reputable IVF doctor would implant 8 embryos, they'd be risking their license. Also no reputable IVF doctor would do this for a woman who already had 6 kids. The most likely scenario is that she had this done in a black market clinic in Mexico, where you can get any medical procedure done no questions asked.

But I do agree that it is entirely possible, and even likely, that this woman has some serious mental condition.

[myoungholt]

That huge Arkansas family on TLC ain't doin' doo badly.

[Solja]

Aw come on! They own commercial properties and lease them out. Plus they lease land to a cell phone company for their cell tower, so they have income.

Not only does that family own property, they builty their own house, buy all their clothes from thrift stores, buy any vehicle used, and buy in bulk. They are very, very "frugal" or "thrifty".

I'm sure evangelicals are happy that she had a lot of kids and just as unhappy that she used science to achieve it.

[Dana D]

A quick search found that the mother's name is Nadya and was born in 1975. They've moved numerous times in the past 5 years and the only relatives names mentioned were the mother, Angela and the father, Ed. So where's Daddy?

[myoungholt]

Daddy might have been in a bunch of test tubes, frozen and waiting for her to come and ask for them.

Or: Who needs a Daddy if all you're trying to do is milk the system for money.

Or: America's Got Talent. We pay for any and all who profess some sort of religious zealotry (is that a word?).

[SCVADem]

They claim the mom wants privacy, yet grandma gives out her name to the media. *eyeroll*

[myoungholt]

The outrage here is not being spat out by right- or left-wingers, but by responsible people who have tried to plan and raise their families responsibly.

This woman's actions are a perfect example of irresponsibility. Do the math. If the family filed for bankruptcy a year-and-a-half ago and she just gave birth 9 weeks prematurely, this was a very purposeful decision. She already had 6 and decided to have 8 embryos implanted. Extreme irresponsibility. All 8 "took" and she decided to keep all of them. Extreme irresponsibility. Sorry, whoever she is, nothing will make me believe she didn't know about the huge Arkansas family on TLC and want to emulate their good fortune.

[milo h minderbinder]

Exactly. And don't forget the fertility "doctor" who did such an irresponsible procedure in the first place.

[myoungholt]

That was the second place. The first place was her going to him to request treatment. Conspiracy theory in action. Perhaps if she got a TLC show, he was go benefit as well.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

In the article in the LA Times, it said that her mother said she "didn't never expected the fertility treatment to result in 8 babies".

Chances are she was on a drug to increase the amount of ovulation, instead of in vitro. I have heard of a couple who had septuplets who had been on just drugs (but they didn't have older kids).

Neighbors are saying that she has 4 kids between 7yo and 3ya, a set of twins that are 2yo.

What kind of rational person would be on fertility treatment with 2 year old twins? Are they planning on selling these kids into sla very or something?

[myoungholt]

If it wasn't in vitro, where's Daddy?

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

I'm going to reserve my judgment until after the Barbara Walters Special. Babs doesn't pay for interviews so I trust her to ask the hard questions.

[bullypulpit]

As a Californian, I say, no money for this ridiculous, selfish woman until she has her tubes tied--and the irresponsible doctors who advised her have lost their licenses. We are tired of footing the bill for mentally imbalanced people.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

tube tying wouldn't work if she does in vitro.... just saying.

[TheBlackCat]

If she even used a licensed American doctor. Very well could have had this done at a black market clinic or in Mexico.

[Dana D]

Questions: Is she married? If not, where did she get the sperm?
Obviously, they're Iraqi. Are they citizens and will they get benefits?
It's illegal in CA to have that many people residing in a small house. Will the state do anything about that?
Will Social Services look after those children?

I am assuming they are Muslim. It is considered shameful to have children out of wedlock thus I am assuming that she IS married.

[milo h minderbinder]

Since the kids were born here, they are citizens and will get benefits.

[eus]

Each of these children is like a credit card... now she's got 14 credit cards. I wonder who reviewed her application? She wont be able to keep up with the payments and the burden will fall to the rest of the taxpayers.

[dawlishgal]

I posted this way down on page 21....deci­ded to post it again because I think it is important for people to realize how difficult behavior like that of this mother makes things not only for her children, but for society. It is NOT a private matter to have 14 children.

Here goes:

Before I had any children, I started work on a project that studied mental illness in children and the adults these children became. I KNOW what problems uncared for, poorly nurtured children are likely to face in later life.

We limited our family to two, although we certainly would have liked to have had more.

Wanting a lot of children is one thing, caring for a lot of children is a totally different thing. Some women want BABIES and not children, and this mother certainly sounds as though she might be one of these. The youngest one hits two, and there has to be another infant. These babies are PEOPLE, not toys, and not pets.

Time for society to step in and make sure that all children have loving, nurturing care.

[Insightful]

What doctor could be so irresponsible as to provide fertility drugs for this woman. There should be a law to limit this insanity. This bunch of people are obviously being supported by tax payer welfare programs. They are leeches on society. It is wrong and we need to put a stop to it.

[TheBlackCat]

IF this woman is being truthful (she states she did see an actual doctor, and received IVF and didn't just self medicate) then she had this done in Mexico. A doctor who did this in America would be risking their license.

[milo h minderbinder]

This needs to be investigated, and if a doctor in the US did this he needs to be put out of business.

[Solja]

Sorry, but I don't EVER want government in my womb. It's not up to the government to tell someone they can't have children, no matter what the costs are to the state/country. If that were the case, poor people would be discouraged from ever having kids, and rich people would be the only ones who could pass the muster. Think about the government telling poor people, ie, minorities, to not have babies. That is unAmerican.

[myoungholt]

How about fiscal responsibility? Don't try to buy what you can't pay for. If you can't pay for the kids, keep the junk out of the womb!

[lunchlady]

Then lets sign you up for an extra share of taxes and insurance payments.to help pay for this woman's brood. The bills are big- but I'm sure you're ready to tighten your belt so she can reproduce as vigorously as possible.
The old saying that money doesn't grow on trees really hits home if you have to balance a checkbook. Governments have to struggle to do the same.
I support all sort of government programs. I do not support this sort of craziness. Limiting family size is not that hard and has many benefits for the children as well as the family and society.

[milo h minderbinder]

For reference, the medical guidelines on how many embryos to implant in various situations.

For women under 30 they recommend 1-2 max, and never more than 5 even under the worst circumstances.

http://www.asrm.org/Media/Practice/Guidelines_on_number_of_embryos.pdf

Looks like some doctor needs to hang up his shingle.

[milo h minderbinder]

Sorry, that should be for women under 35 it's 1-2, which this woman reportedly is.

[TheBlackCat]

I have to think that this was done in Mexico, not the U.S. You can pay to have anything done to you down there, no questions asked.

[myoungholt]

Thanks to those of you who posted the cbsnews story. I clicked on the link and read every word of that one also. This does not make me feel any better about the situation--it provides more fodder for how ridiculous it is.

I tried to post the fact that I really don't care about the race or ethnicity of the mother--I don't know what it is, and it doesn't matter. This is a matter of caring for the society we live in. It's the fact that she already had more than enough. For any woman of any race or ethnicity or religious persuasion to have fertility treatments when she already has 6 live chilcren, the youngest of which is only 2, is simply ridiculous to the extreme--especially when they have created a situation with enough poverty that they must live with relatives in an inadequate house.

[TheBlackCat]

So now it's been announced that this woman declared bankrupsy and lost her home last year.

And then she INTENTIONALLY used fertility drugs when she already has SIX children she apparently cannot afford?

This is the height of irresponsi­bility...

"Tucker, who has a doctorate in reproductive physiology, says it's "absolutely" possible the octuplets' mother got pregnant with them by taking fertility drugs on her own without the help of a clinic, "and that seemed the most plausible scenario, simply because the profession, we're policed by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, has focused so minutely on the fact that we need to reduce the number of embryos that we transfer. We really are all about seeking the one, the one embryo that's going to make the healthy, single-born baby.

"And this kind of multiple plethora excess of babies is too much of a good thing. And it's rather a slap in the face of the whole profession, simply because it's going in the wrong direction.

"And it's unfortunate, because the media pick up on this and seem to go, I think, Arthur Kaplan from UPenn (University of Pennsylvania) said the media tend to go goo-goo gaga over this and, in fact, it's really a bit of a medical disaster."­"

[jcsophie]

I wonder what political party she belongs to?

[eus]

Most likely none---she's obviously clueless and only into herself.

[Disdain]

Nope you're not allowed to have it both ways. As long as you have laws handing out money to people for doing nothing, they'll do nothing. Once the child credit is increased to $5000 per child guess how much this woman will be paid a year by your taxes. If I were in her shoes, I'd stay on my back for the rest of my days and keep collecting checks. Wouldn't you? It's a lot more fun and definitely more lucrative!

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

Great point Disdain!

[dawlishgal]

I am a liberal (usually), but not in matters like this. I believe that anybody who already has 3 or so children must allow herself to become sterilized before being given more or any welfare...­.her choice....­sterlizati­on or no money. Those of us who planned our families made pretty much the same choice....­.that of limiting our families for financial reasons. Why shouldn't these women have to?

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

Agreed....­.

although I think any woman who has a child & who is on welfare should have an IUC implanted as well.... It's easily reversible if her circumstances change.

[jakitchen]

While I agree with most posters here, I find your comment without merit.

First of all, in order to receive that $5000 tax credit you would have to have an income other than unearned. You don't pay taxes on welfare, so therefore you do not reap the tax credit on income you didn't earn. However, if she was is/was receiving unemployment benefits, she could get a tax break.

They are some disreputable tax preparer's that have gotten welfare recipients tax refunds, but since that is illegal, I wouldn't want to be in her shoes, should she go that route.

[reddirtg]

"CBS News has learned that the family of the octuplets born this week outside Los Angeles filed for bankruptcy and abandoned a home a little over a year-and-a-half ago. "

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/30/earlyshow/health/main4764432.shtml

[milo h minderbinder]

So much for the people indignant that anyone even suggest the possibility that she and her family might end up a burden on society.

[TheBlackCat]

Looks like the good people of California will be taking care of these babies!

Have fun losing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in welfare over the next 2 decades!

[aweissnet]

California is planning a severe water shortage this coming year ....

Like, you know ... running out of "natural resources.­"

Animals don't plan for those things when they bear young. Understandable, eh? Humans ... one expects some sense, with respect to reproduction. This woman redefines stupidity.

Can't believe the defenses on her right to reproduce so abundantly. Those who defend her are equally short-sighted and ignorant.

[Disdain]

How? California is bankrupt! They are going to start to issue IOU to tax payers in lieu of refund!