Octomom and a house of mirrors

You wait for months for the inside story on the life of "Octomom" Nadya Suleman, and then suddenly two opportunites turn up at once. Suleman, of course, achieved fame in January this year by becoming the single mother of octuplets, in addition to six young children (all conceived via IVF and sperm donation).

Last night, Channel 4 screened a documentary on Suleman, Octomom: Me and My 14 Kids. Her home life is as chaotic as you'd expect. In order to provide for her vast brood, she feels that she has no choice but to offer them up to the media. Near the end of the programme, New York Times reporter John Bowe turns up to do an in-depth profile for the Saturday magazine.

In that article, Bowe covers the making of the documentary; apparently it was tricky at first, but then things improved: "The documentary guys were cool. British people are fun. Their voices are funny. Relations were warm." He also described the efforts the film-makers took to get pictures of the babies, at one point Velcroing each to a board sloping downwards in an attempt to get the perfect shot against a black background. In another tricky "money shot," Suleman lies on a white blanket, surrounded by her eight squalling infants. "It was like something from a Greek tragedy," noted Bowe.

So it's your choice: you can watch the documentary (online here) including footage of the NYT journalist, or you can read the NYT article about the making of the documentary (online here). However, I don't recommend trying to both at once—it might cause some kind of implosion in the space/time continuum.