CHICAGO — Nadya Suleman’s father told Oprah Winfrey on her talk show that his daughter was under duress before giving an interview to NBC and should have been given time to recover from giving birth to octuplets.
“They took her out of the hospital by midnight to a secret location,” Suleman’s father, Ed Doud, told Winfrey on the show that aired Tuesday. “They did not even give her a chance to rest, to sleep, where she’s still under medication and not feeling well.
“They bombard her with all these cameras,” Doud said. “I am not saying that they kidnapped her. What I am saying is that it absolutely should have given her a little time until she heals at least and not be under so much medication.”
The NBC interviews with Suleman aired Feb. 9 and 10 on the network’s “Today” and “Dateline” shows. She gave birth to the eight babies Jan. 26 and was released from the hospital Feb. 5 after a more than two-month stay.
“NBC News stands by every aspect of our interview with Nadya Suleman,” NBC said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. “Contrary to her father’s allegations, we did not take Nadya from the hospital and the interview, which was conducted with respect, took place at a time of her choosing.”
Suleman, 33, is a single mother who is unemployed and lives with her mother in a three-bedroom home. She already had six children when she gave birth to the octuplets.
In the NBC interview, Suleman said she “longed for certain connections and attachments with another person that … I really lacked, I believe, growing up.” She called her childhood “pretty dysfunctional.” Doud disputed those statements, telling Winfrey his daughter was spoiled.
“We gave her so much love,” he said. “No child has so much love. I thought what she meant is because she is the only child. I’m sure that’s what she meant. She really wanted a brother or sister.”
Frustration with media crews that have been camping out in front of Suleman’s Whittier home boiled over Monday when one neighbor walked out of his home with a shotgun and began yelling unspecified threats, police said.
Whittier police Lt. Carlos Solorza said the man told Whittier officers that his actions were not directed at individuals but rather the media as a whole.
“He said he was tired of the attention,” Solorza said.
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
