Early this week, Reuters reported that “Octomom” Nadya Suleman filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in California. Nadya is known as “Octomom” after giving birth to octuplets in 2009. Court documents claim that Suleman has close to $1 million in debt. In recent months, it was reported that Suleman receives close to $5,000 a month in public assistance.
According to bankruptcy documents obtained by TMZ, Suleman has a long list of creditors in which she owes between $500,000 and $1 million. The creditors include her attorney, medical groups, Verizon Wireless, DirecTV, Kaiser Permanente, Farmers Insurance Group and Superior Court of California just to name a few. She also has outstanding debt owed to the City of La Habra Water Department, So Cal Gas Company and So Cal Edison Company (electric).
Suleman, the mother of 14 children, reported in bankruptcy petition that she has less than $50,000 in assets. As long as she complies with the Chapter 7 bankruptcy requirements, it’s likely she’ll have a big chunk of her debt discharged. Other media reports claim that Suleman has indeed taken credit counseling courses required to begin the filing process.
In an ABC news report, Suleman claimed she was ashamed to be receiving public assistance. Upon announcing she receives benefits, she has mentioned of receiving death threats and other negative backlash. In January 2009, she gave birth to eight babies who are believed to be the second set of octuplets born in the United States. She was criticized later after their birth when it was learned that she already had six kids and used in-vitro fertilization with the assistance of a fertility specialist.