Media frenzy surrounds Octomom

Photo credit: Urbanite

File photo of Nadya Suleman, left, speaking with Ann Curry in New York. AP photo

By Jason Fink

Among the millions following the bizarre saga of “Octomom” Nadya Suleman, some see a deluded woman unnaturally obsessed with motherhood. Others see a shameless publicity seeker looking for fame.

What few doubt is that seemingly overnight, Suleman has become the target of a media frenzy, with perhaps a dose of exploitation thrown in.

“It’s now a tragedy-train wreck with a tremendous amount of rubber necking,” said Gail Saltz, a psychology professor at New York Presbyterian Medical Center.

Perhaps the exclamation to Saltz’s point came today when adult film producer Vivid Video offered Suleman, 33, $1 million to appear in a pornographic movie.“It’s a sad case in which no one is thinking about what this woman really needs,” said Paul Applebaum, head of the Division of Psychiatry, Law and Ethics at Columbia University.

The media storm has only intensified since Jan. 26 — when Suleman gave birth to her six boys and two girls — with paparrazzi staking out her home and blogs lighting up daily with the latest outrage.

Today, TV’s Dr. Phil broadcast an interview with Suleman in which she defended herself, saying that she only wanted one child and had six embryos implanted because she didn’t want them destroyed.

“I understand everyone’s judgement,” she said. “I hope (the media attention) is going away.”

But much of the exposure so far has been Suleman’s choice: She granted half a dozen interviews and was reportedly in talks about a reality TV show.

Suleman, of Whittier, Calif., was initially portrayed as a miracle mom. As more information came to light — she is single with six other children, receives food stamps and lives with her mother in a house facing foreclosure — public opinion quickly shifted and scrutiny focused on the fertility doctor who twice implanted six embryos in her.

Today, it was reported that the hospital is considering not releasing the octuplets to her until officials feel that she has “a better living arrangement.”

Marcia Pappas, the New York state director of the National Organization of Women, came to her defense.

“She is going to need money and they are obviously targeting her,” Pappas said of the porn film offer.

Vivid, which has made other celebrity sex movies, disagrees.

“The exploitation has already taken place and we are trying to help her and her family,” the company said in an e-mail response.

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