As eight baby siblings continue to thrive in the US, publicists are helping to deal with requests for their story, along with some criticism of their birth
NADYA SULEMAN and her eight one-week-old babies are entertaining offers from media outlets around the world as they decide who will land the first interview and snap the first pictures.
Suleman (33), a divorced mother who already has six children between the ages of two and seven, including twins, remains hospitalised along with the octuplets, who continue to improve.
Doctors at Kaiser Permanente’s Bellflower Medical Centre said the babies grow stronger each day and are breathing unassisted and feeding on donated breast milk.
Suleman retained Los Angeles publicists Michael Furtney and Joann Killeen on Friday and, since then, the pair said they have fielded dozens of interview requests and offers for book, film and television deals. Some media reports have speculated that Suleman might be paid as much as $2 million (€1.54 million) for an interview, but Furtney said, “The money itself is not the object.”
“She has her view of her life with her kids as they go down life’s highway,” he said. “She wants to be sure they are well cared for.”
Interest has grown worldwide as more details about Suleman emerged, including that she is not married, lives with her parents in Whittier and already has six children.
She was married in 1996 and separated from her husband in 2000, before any of her children were born. Their divorce was not finalised until January 2008, according to court records.
Even though many people have inundated blogs and internet boards with messages critical of Suleman, Furtney said the public will become convinced that “she is a very good person and someone they should support” after they learn more about her.
He described her as “very bright” with a “great sense of humour.
“She has a great attitude about all of this, which is remarkable,” Furtney said.
He declined to answer questions about the sperm donor or where she sought fertility treatment.
Suleman’s 15 minutes of fame might be fleeting. Nappy-makers might donate products in exchange for a positive media mention, but long-term sponsorship is unlikely, said William Chipps, senior editor of the IEG Sponsorship Report, which tracks and analyses sponsorships.
“Given the current marketing environment – where companies are pulling back on budgets – the last thing they would do is align with any personality that has a hint of controversy surrounding them,” he said. But for now, Kaiser is still deluged with calls, e-mails and letters, including about 200 media inquiries a day.
Many callers expressed outrage, demanding an explanation about who was going to care for the children and pay for their care.
“In the first few days, we got calls like, ‘How dare you do this?’ and ‘You should have your licence revoked’,” said Socorro Serrano, Kaiser’s media manager. There were even those few who wished the eight babies would not survive, she said. – (LA Times-Washington Post service)