“Oh no she isn’t!” was the first thing I thought today when I read the CNN headline “Octuplets’ mom seeks online donations.” Nadya Suleman has set up a web site for donations for her new octuplets. The site offered three places where you could click to make a donation.
In her first interview, Nadya said she loved her babies “unconditionally, accepting them unconditionally, everything I do. I’ll stop my life for them and be present with them and hold them and be with them. And how many parents do that?
Oh, now my head is hurting. I have been a bit torn about this whole situation.
I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mom to my four year old son, but I realized that if I wanted to do that and us still be able to live somewhat comfortably, we should probably stop at one. Even before he was born, I was worried about providing for him – through elementary school, high school, and yes, even college. I know there are plenty of people who pay their own way through college, but like my parents did for me, I wanted to be able to provide as much as I could to him.
I realize everyone doesn’t have the same concept of children that I do. I don’t mind providing a hand out to people who have come to a rough patch in life. With this economy as bad as it is, people are losing six digit incomes and finding themselves homeless.
But, Nadya Suleman chose to be implanted with many embryos (some may have split so the exact number is unknown as far as I know) even after she had six mouths to feed at home, one being a special needs child, with no husband and no job that we know of.
The fact that she promised to love and be there for her children is very commendable, but I am sure there are a lot of moms out there that would love to “be present” with their children and “be with them,” but they have to work to support their family.
Suleman’s spokeswoman said that Suleman doesn’t plan on being a welfare mom, but “wants to look at every opportunity that she can to make sure she can provide financially for the 14 children she’s responsible for now.” The spokeswoman did add that Suleman gets $490 in food stamps each month.
How do you feel about this? Should the public offer her help to raise these children?