The California woman who recently gave birth to octuplets is not overwhelmed and is looking forward to telling her story, her spokeswoman said today.
Nadya Suleman is a "wonderful woman," spokeswoman Joann Killeen said today on "Good Morning America." "She's smart, she's bright, she's articulate, she's well-educated and she has a wonderful sense of humor."
Suleman, 33, remains in a hospital in southern California after giving birth Jan. 26 to the octuplets. Suleman, who has six other children, is now the mother of 10 boys and four girls younger than 8. All were born by in vitro fertilization, her mother has said.
Despite what might seem like an overwhelming number of children and despite her family's apparent financial difficulties, Suleman is "upbeat" about her future, Killeen said.
"She's very joyful. Nadya is a very balanced and together woman," she said.
"She's very, very happy and joyful for the miracle of life and the babies."
Suleman has held the babies and has named them, Killeen said, though she declined to reveal the names.
As news of the births -- the second recorded successful octuplet birth in the United States -- has spread around the world, Suleman has been the target of both fascination and criticism. Killeen said Suleman has been inundated with offers for media interviews and talk show appearances. Killeen said she was "evaluating" all the offers.
But, she has also been criticized by some medical ethicists, who wondered how she would take care of so many children. Suleman, who is unmarried, reportedly held a psychiatric technician's license, though it was not clear whether she was currently employed.
She has a 2006 degree in child and adolescent development from California State University at Fullerton, and as late as the spring she was studying for a master's degree in counseling, a college official told ABC News.
Court documents show Suleman's mother, Angela Suleman, filed for bankruptcy in March 2008. The family currently lives in a three-bedroom home in suburban Los Angeles.
Killeen said Nadya Suleman was a "working professional" before giving birth and would "look at all the opportunities and choices she has to provide best financial future for her children."
"She's looking forward to telling the story and setting the record straight," she said.
As of March, Edward Doud Suleman, the octuplets' apparent grandfather, was working in Iraq, according to the bankruptcy filing. It said that he would earn $100,000 a year. The document did not specify his occupation, but Angela Suleman told The Los Angeles Times that her husband was a contractor. Records show Angela and Edward Suleman were divorced in 1999 but apparently still live together. Last week Angela Suleman said her daughter had been obsessed with having children since she was a teenager, according to an interview with The Associated Press.
Angela Suleman told the AP that all 14 children were conceived through in vitro fertilization, because her daughter had always had trouble conceiving due to "plugged up" fallopian tubes. She said that all the kids came from a single sperm donor.
An AP review of birth records identified a David Solomon as the father of the four oldest children. It is not clear what relationship, if any, he may have to Nadya Suleman.
Angela Suleman told the newspaper that her daughter had fertility treatment but never expected the treatment would result in eight babies.
She said that raising 14 children "was going to be difficult."
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