Octuplets' mom not receiving many gifts
Baby-care firms are steering clear
LOS ANGELES - Where is the lifetime supply of diapers, formula, and baby wipes? The free van? The new house?
Women who give birth to six, seven, or eight babies are often showered with dazzling gifts from big corporations, local businesses, and strangers. But that is not happening with the Southern California mother who delivered octuplets last week.
The news that she is single and has six other children - and that all 14 were conceived by having embryos implanted - seems to have turned off many people, and companies are not exactly rushing to get publicity by piling on the freebies.
Nadya Suleman, 33, has been lambasted by talk-show hosts, fertility experts, even her own mother, who has her hands full taking care of Suleman's other children, ages 2 to 7.
A veteran Hollywood publicist said Suleman's handlers have their work cut out for them in trying to win public sympathy for her.
"I think it's a calamity," said publicist David Brokaw, who has handled crises for celebrities. "I don't see, the way this is shaped, how you can say much about it in terms of something favorable."
Makers of diapers, formula, and other products would probably want to steer clear of her, Brokaw said. He suggested she lie low for now and concentrate on crafting an image as a responsible parent.
Gerber spokesman David Mortazavi said that if the baby-food maker was planning to do something for the family, it probably would have done it already.
Conservative radio talk show host Bill Handel in Los Angeles, who has branded the births "freakish," said on the air yesterday that people are ready to boycott any corporations that help the octuplets or their mother.
Suleman's spokesman, Mike Furtney, said that he has received some "fairly negative" comments from the public but that offers to help with the babies have come in from nurses, and some baby stores have stepped forward to volunteer their support.
"I don't remember the brand name, but one major disposable diaper company sent some diapers," he said. Furtney said he was confident that once Suleman tells her story, many of her critics will "readjust their thinking a little."
Furtney said Suleman has had offers for TV and other media deals.
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 Department of Agriculture.
The Suleman octuplets' medical costs have not been disclosed. The babies were born nine weeks premature, and in California, a single premature birth in 2006 led to an average hospital stay of 25 days and cost $164,273. That would amount to a $1.3 million bill for eight.
Suleman's income is unclear. She was employed by a mental health facility from 1997 through 2008. Nasty callers dominated the phone lines in the first few days after the octuplets were born at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center.
"We heard a lot of outrage because there was a vacuum of information and people were going on rumor and conjecture," said hospital spokeswoman Socorro Serrano.
But calls of encouragement, particularly from mothers of multiples, have also poured in, along with offers of hand-me-downs and tips, Serrano said.
