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VIDEOMo' Babies, Mo' Money
Multiple births are big business.
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The 33-year-old single mother, who recently gave birth to octuplets (bringing her formidable brood to 14), has seen the kind of national media coverage normally reserved for nuclear war or Angelina Jolie. She's already appeared on the Today Show, and there’s talk of upcoming one-on-ones with Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, and Oprah Winfrey. Reported asking price: up to $2 million per interview (though NBC claims no money changed hands for her Today Show spot).
Equipped with a publicist and an agent looking to establish her as a “child-care expert,” Suleman is showing that, even in a down economy, there can be a career in having kids.
Treating multiples as tiny cash cows is nothing new. During the 1930s, the Dionne quintuplets created a media firestorm, culminating in the launch of Quintland, a Dionne theme park which quickly became Ontario’s largest tourist attraction (surpassing even Niagara Falls). Reduced to a life of poverty in Montreal by the 1990s, the 3 surviving sisters eventually sued the province for damages.
Despite such cautionary tales, the world’s fascination with multiples is stronger than ever. Granted, raising a large number of children requires considerable money and resources. Writing a book -- such as the Party of Nine series penned by sextuplet mom Jennifer Hanselman -- can help subsidize those costs.
The birth of the McCaughey septuplets in 1997 inspired a letter of warning from the surviving Dionne sisters - but also attracted generous donations, including a van and 2 years' worth of diapers, which allowed the family to keep their children largely out of the media glare.
In the midst of the Suleman blitz and accompanying bioethics drama (the unemployed single mother had each of her 14 children through in-vitro fertilization), famous multi-mom Kate Gosselin, who stars with her sextuplets in the hit Learning Channel (DISCA) series Jon and Kate Plus Eight, sniffed that the Suleman saga was "very shocking." Gosselin, who also has endorsements with Procter & Gamble (PG) and Wal-Mart (WMT), appeared on Larry King Live in order to make this pronouncement.
Last year, thanks to the popularity of Jon and Kate Plus Eight, the Learning Channel premiered 17 Kids and Counting, a reality show that follows the lives of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, who recently gave birth to their eighteenth child.
Following their Today Show appearance, the Sulemans weren’t the only octuplets to make news this month. Born in Houston in 1998 -- and also approached by TLC for a possible reality series -- the Chukwu octuplets (one of whom died a week after birth) recently announced they would be going on a world tour.
The theme: “Promoting Healthy Families.”
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