Suleman reportedly conceived all 14 through in vitro fertilization, all from the same donor.

Personal life
The octuplets' mother already had six children (ages 7, 6, 5, 3, and 2-year-old twins) before seeking fertility treatments again in 2008. She reportedly lives with her children and parents in a 1,550-square-foot home in Whittier, California, on a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood described as having small one- and two-story homes with two or three bedrooms, in a largely lower- to middle-income Hispanic community. According to public records, the Suleman family filed for bankruptcy claiming nearly $1M in liabilities and abandoned another home in late 2007. The octuplets' maternal grandfather Ed Suleman, in his early 60s and identifying himself as a former Iraqi military man, says he is returning to his native Iraq as a translator and driver in order to financially support his daughter and her children.

According to news reports, Nadya Suleman graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science degree in child and adolescent development, and worked as a psychiatric technician until she was injured and returned to school to pursue a master's degree in counseling but left the program in 2008.

The Times reported that Suleman plans to embark on a career as a "television childcare expert," and her family is asking $2M from media interviews and commercial sponsors to help raise her 14 children.