Octuplets' mother receives public assistance + 3 disabled children

[kskiska]

Nadya Suleman, the woman who gave birth to octuplets last month, is receiving $490 a month in food stamps, and three of her first six children are disabled and receiving federal assistance, her publicist confirmed to The Times.

Publicist Michael Furtney confirmed the information after two sources told The Times that Suleman was receiving food stamps and federal supplemental security income.

Suleman had told NBC News correspondent Ann Curry in an interview that she was not receiving welfare. Furtney said Suleman didn't consider the food stamps and SSI to be welfare.

“In Nadya’s view, the money that she gets from the food stamp program ... and the resources disabilities payments she gets for her three children are not welfare," he said. "They are part of programs designed to help people with need, and she does not see that as welfare."

more…
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/02/nadya-suleman-w.html

[msongs]

1. sounds like she is running a baby business nt

[Stevenmarc]

2. Nadya wouldn't be my go to person for realistic thinking

[aquart]

3. What caused the disabilities in her children?

These are all implanted embryos. What went wrong?

[Bunny]

4. I would guess that at least a few of the octuplets will also qualify for SSI.

All of the children receiving SSI are also eligible for Medicaid.

[LSparkle]

5. She's starting to give "bleeding heart liberals" like me a bad name ...

Can't believe she didn't consider food stamps to be
welfare - it's called "public assistance" but it's
all part of the same program. I've had friends on
food stamps and, believe me, they didn't try and
brainwash themselves into thinking they weren't on
welfare - they knew they were.

[sarge43]

6. She's getting food stamps, but she has a publicist.

Crap detector just went red line.

[hobbit709]

10. And who paid for the fertility procedures?

Those places want cash up front and they want more than the local coke dealer.

[Howardx]

14. i have the feeling

its gonna turn out that we paid for it.

[RiverStone]

17. Bingo! Add 18 more years of public assistance!

Selfish does not even come close to defining her idiocy.

[Howardx]

7. im so sick of this woman

"In Nadya’s view, the money that she gets from the food stamp program ... and the resources disabilities payments she gets for her three children are not welfare," he said. "They are part of programs designed to help people with need, and she does not see that as welfare."


unfreakinbelievable

[RiverStone]

21. If any fucking reality TV show attempts to glorify her manipulative bullshit...

It will back fire.

Just help her 14 kids find a stable situation. She needs to go to a psychiatric ward for inpatient tx.

[PeaceNikki]

8. Criticizing her for receiving assistance is a slippery slope

and one I won't go down. It opens the general conversation about who is and is not "worthy" of help and, even more frightening, the idea that reproductive choices should be brought into play when deeming who is "worthy".

Nope... no thanks.

[ferrous wheel]

16. Too bad somebody didn't give her some 'assistance' a year or 2 ago.

Kevorkian style assistance.

[Bunny]

19. She should have been euthanized?

[ferrous wheel]

25. Yes.

...

[XemaSab]

18. Id rather my tax dollars went to someone who is in a bad situation

NOT of their own making, but that's just me. :shrug:

[PeaceNikki]

22. You see the danger behind that theory, right?

Christians could say they don't want assistance to go to single mothers or AIDS patients or clinics that offer abortion and/or contraception...

It's a dangerous idea.

[Sheltiemama]

33. Not all of us Christians would say that.

Lumping us all together is dangerous, too.

[RiverStone]

23. She deserves lots of criticism for making very poor choices

I can easily go there.

Lets start with seeking a Dr. to implant 8 embryos.

She has assumed no personal responsibility for the calamity she is in --- rather, she can not even see it.

It's all about personal responsibility and her lack thereof.

[PeaceNikki]

24. And the RW's say that about single mothers or to argue against choice.

I agree she deserves criticism for poor choices, but the idea that public assistance should be subject to a morality clause is a huge can of worms.

[RiverStone]

26. Having worked with folks on public assistance in the schools and as a case mgr.

I can tell you that one MUST talk with clients about making healthy choices vs unhealthy choices (right vs wrong); without this discussion, people don't learn to ultimately become more self sufficient.

It's a can of worms alright, but without proper nutrition, vocational skills, education, household management, parenting classes etc. --- those worms multiply unchecked.

Trust me, I have a tremendous amount of empathy, but it is possible to educate folks on the consequences of making unhealthy choices. In fact, we have a moral obligation to do so.

[PeaceNikki]

27. I never implied that there shouldn't be counseling.

But the implication that the assistance should be withheld or redirected is dangerous.

[RiverStone]

30. It's not dangerous, just the opposite really

I know your heart is in the right place PeaceNikki, but would you keep giving matches to an arsonist?

In the real world, all of us have personal, physical, financial, or emotional consequences for making poor choices.

Without suggesting that continued self destructive behavior could result in losing assistance, you have folks continuing addictive (bad) behavior with NO motivation to stop.

Sadly --- just as many people abuse the welfare system than use it wisely. It is meant to be a bridge, NOT a way of life.

Betya noticed, this is an issue close to my heart and career. And I have been doing this work a long time, so I have a very broad perspective.

peace~:)

[exboyfil]

35. Being on the front lines of single mothers/welfare dependency

Do you feel that the current social safety net promotes more single parent births? You read stories about the various ways that single mothers can capitalize on additional children, and we have all heard the personal stories. My favorite is one in which a friend's daughter can't wait to get her kid on Ritalin to increase her dollars from the state.

The thing that amazes me is the fact that I do not even hear the father brought up in so many of the stories regarding single mothers in poverty. This case is obviously the freakish extreme of this problem in which an individual actually performing the physical act is not present. Of course that brings up the whole question of the sperm donor (should he have had in say in the creation of the embryoes or the implantation, does he have any financial obligation to the resulting children etc).

[foxfeet]

28. The criticism in this thread thus far, as I understand it,

seems to be driven more by her lack of truthfulness about receiving assistance, rather than the fact that she is and probably will be for the foreseeable future. The facts of this situation are dribbling out rather slowly, so it will likely be some time before the truth is known. I do think it fair to say that nobody can rely on her to give a truthful account of the facts at this point. For the record, those kids (all of them) are entitled to the support they need. Whether they receive that assistance in her custody remains to be seen.

[PeaceNikki]

29. There was another thread not too long ago where it was literally said:

"taxpayers should also have the right to have a choice" (with regards to her reproductive choices in a thread discussing regulating fertility treatment via legislation).

I think that idea is horrifying. This octuplet thing is ridiculously rare and we should not legislate reproduction or base public assistance policy on a rarity like this.

[foxfeet]

31. Agreed.

There have been some hair-raising comments on other threads over the past couple of week.

[muntrv]

9. The fertility clinic needs to be taken to task for giving her the embryos, knowing

that she already has 6 kids.

[Happyhippychick]

11. She has a publicist? Whaddup with that?

[chatnoir]

12. Wait, this nut has a *publicist*??

[RiverStone]

13. Nadya obviously has a psychiatric disability!

She has lied repeatedly to the media.

She is obsessed with having babies even though she has no job, is already on welfare, has no father to help, and has no common sense (REALITY CHECK!!).

The Dr. that implanted those 8 embryos needs to lose his/her license.

This whole crazy thing has turned into a circus, and it is the 14 innocent children who will pay the biggest price.

[Lex]

15. The babies should be put up for adoption, she should be in a mental hospital,

and the fertility doctor should have his license revoked.

Or so I was told by a friend today at work. :shrug:

[earth mom]

20. FYI-SSI is NOT Welfare and it's not easy to get.

That said, this story just keeps getting worse and worse.

I know that one kid has autism, but does anyone know what kind of disabilities the other two kids have?

I really feel sorry for those kids.

[Gormy Cuss]

32. True, and technically she's not receiving 'welfare' unless she's getting TANF

She is receiving public assistance however as was pointed out upthread.

That said, this story becomes sadder with each revelation. I fear for all of those children.

[LisaL]

34. Three? OMG,

It's been reported one is autistic. Now turns out that three (probably includes the autistic one) are disabled?
And she had 8 more premature babies?
Boggles the mind.