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“Octomom” shares first day of school photo

<p dir="ltr">Nadya “Octomom” Suleman has shared a photo of her eight youngest children on their first day of the new school year.</p> <p dir="ltr">The former porn star, who now goes by Natalie, already had six children when she made headlines after falling pregnant with octuplets in 2009 via IVF treatment.</p> <p dir="ltr">The now 47-year-old has shared a photo of Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Jonah, Makai, Josiah and Jeremiah all smiling at the camera and arms around each other. </p> <p dir="ltr">“First day of 8th grade. Be proud of yourselves kids for being kind, respectful, and helpful to all your fellow peers, teachers and staff,” Natalie wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">“You are exceptional role models to the 6th and 7th graders.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I love you.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/ChWQ08ROVZ0/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/ChWQ08ROVZ0/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Nadya “octomom” Suleman (@nataliesuleman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Natalie then noted that her six children, Ameerah, Calyssa, Elijah, Jonah, Joshua and Aidan, did not want to be a part of the photo. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I respect their choice, so should you,” she wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">Natalie occasionally shares family photos to update fans who have been following her since she fell pregnant with the octuplets. </p> <p dir="ltr">In a previous interview, she got candid about being in the spotlight and confessed that she “never wanted the attention”. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I was pretending to be a fake, a caricature, which is something I’m not, and I was doing it out of desperation and scarcity so I could provide for my family,” she told The New York Times in December 2018.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve been hiding from the real world all my life.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Family & Pets

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“My life turned upside down”: IVF mix-up sees mum looking for her real baby

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A woman has shared the shocking story that resulted in her giving birth to someone else’s baby.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Olga Alyokhina, from Chelyabinsk in Russia, loves the son she gave birth to but wants to find out if her biological baby was born to another woman.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 33-year-old suspects the biological parents of her son, two-year-old Denis, may be raising her child and has shared the story in an effort to find the woman she met at an IVF clinic who she believes may have been mistakenly given her fertilised egg.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The state-run Chelyabinsk Regional Perinatal Centre, where Olga underwent the procedure, has paid Olga </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">£</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">29,500 ($NZD 58,872) in compensation for the mix-up.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The day I went in for the extraction of biomaterial, I met a woman in the same ward,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We exchanged a few words but I just cannot remember her name.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She said she and the unnamed woman both had 10 eggs extracted.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We met again at the ‘insemination’, sharing the same ward … I have not seen her since.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The IVF treatment was successful, with Olga giving birth in November 2018.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, before leaving the hospital the new parents were shocked to discover their son’s blood type was A.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My blood type is B, my husband has O. Our son cannot have such a blood type,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My life turned upside down. I was in a deep state of shock and panic.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The doctors conducted new blood tests and a DNA test, with the results arriving three months later.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We were told neither of us were the biological parents of our son.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following the revelation, the hospital suggested she leave the baby with an orphanage and abandon looking for her biological son.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What were they talking about? Denis is not a piece of dried bread in a bakery shop that I don’t want to take,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I accepted my son. He is our child.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Please try to understand me - he is our boy. My husband supported me 100 percent.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though the hospital paid the parents compensation, no apology was issued.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The parents’ request to know the name of the other woman in Olga’s ward, or any other IVF mother who may have been implanted with her egg, was refused by the hospital for medical secrecy reasons.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The hospital never apologised,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Their representative behaved so arrogantly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They looked at us as beggars who came to ask a favour. No regret, no sympathy.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the pursuit to find their biological child, the couple hopes to establish contact with the family.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If we find them - we would love to establish normal contacts. We could potentially relocate to where they live. Or they would relocate close to us,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think there is no chance we will swap the kids back.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I would never give up on Denis. I breastfed him. He is our long-awaited child.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“His biological parents could have Denis for holidays if they felt like it. I just want to establish a relationship with them.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They have a right to know they have a son,” she said.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Facebook</span></em></p>

Family & Pets

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Meet the world’s first litter of IVF puppies

<p>The first litter of puppies to be born via in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has arrived, and they’re very cute.</p> <p>The breakthrough was made thanks to researchers at Cornell University. Alex Travis, associate professor of reproductive biology at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine said, “Since the mid-1970s, people have been trying to do this in a dog and have been unsuccessful.”</p> <p>IVF involves fertilising a mature egg with a sperm in lab. Once they produce an embryo, this embryo gets transferred to a “host” female. The host for this study gave birth to seven healthy puppies.</p> <p>Scientists have been trying to perform canine IVF for years without much success, which has been partly put down to the differences between the reproductive systems of humans and dogs.</p> <p>Perhaps what’s most exciting about this development is the implications it has for conservation.</p> <p>Dr Margaret Casal of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine told CBS, “The reason for doing things like this is that it will lead to the preservation of species that are almost lost.”</p> <p>To view all the puppies, scroll through the above gallery. </p> <p><em>Image credit: Cornell University </em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2015/12/dangers-to-pets-at-christmas/">Keep your pet safe this Christmas</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2015/12/bear-cub-wants-a-fight/">Watch an adorable grizzly cub beckoning for a fight</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2015/12/16-adorably-fluffy-cats/"><strong>15 adorably fluffy cats to brighten your day</strong></a></em></span></p>

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