19 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The California home of an unemployed woman who triggered an outcry after giving birth to octuplets is under threat of foreclosure, legal documents showed Thursday.

The three-bedroom property in suburban Los Angeles, owned by the mother of 'octo-mom' Nadya Suleman, could be auctioned in June after a default notice was filed on February 9 indicating loan arrears of more than 23,000 dollars.

The gossip and entertainment news website TMZ.com reported that Suleman's mother, Angela, had made no payments on the property since May.

The Suleman family was not immediately available for comment but are to hold a press conference in Los Angeles later Thursday.

The foreclosure is the latest twist in the saga of Suleman and her octuplets, who were born on January 26.

Her case has provoked outrage from health experts and the public after it emerged the babies were conceived through in vitro fertilization and that Suleman, 33, already had six children under the age of seven.

Suleman's mother last week criticized her daughter's decision to have octuplets as "unconscionable," while fertility experts slammed the Beverly Hills clinic that carried out her treatment.

Under guidelines issued by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), a woman Suleman's age should have no more than two embryos implanted.

Experts say multiple-birth babies are often born prematurely -- Suleman's octuplets were born nine-and-a-half weeks early -- which puts them at significantly greater risk of long-term health problems.

The Medical Board of California is investigating the case.

Last week, Suleman's former spokesman said the mother of 14 had received death threats and was staying at an undisclosed location as a security precaution.