February 3, 2009
(2-14) Octuplets: Publicist Joann Killeen quits
(3-10) Octuplets: Updated list of posts
Octobirther’s publicist, Joann Killeen, was on Larry King tonite. She was retained Jan 30th. She says octobirther is “covered” as far as her hospital bill, that she’s “a very balanced woman”, that she was a “working professional,” “not on welfare” and was “living on her own” and “able to provide for her six children prior to being pregnant with eight children”.
JOANN KILLEEN, PRESIDENT, KILLEEN FURTNEY GROUP: They’re doing great, Larry, absolutely great.
KING: Mother and children.
KILLEEN: Mother’s doing well. The children are off ventilators, they’re breathing on their own. They’re doing really, really well.
KING: How are they paying for all this?
KILLEEN: How are they paying for what?
KING: Medical bills.
KILLEEN: Well, she’s a Kaiser patient. Kaiser Permanente. So…
KING: She’s covered.
KILLEEN: She’s covered.
KING: For all of it?
KILLEEN: She’s covered.
KING: How is she — is she married?
KILLEEN: No, she’s not. She’s a single woman.
KING: How old are the six children that she’s had previously?
KILLEEN: They range from age 2 to age 7. She now has 14 children under the age of 8. She has 10 boys and four girls.
KING: Do the six have the same father?
KILLEEN: They all have the same father.
KING: And what — first of all, how did you come to represent her?
KILLEEN: We’re a public relations firm here on the West Side. We have a good reputation. We’re known for doing great work, and compassionate and ethical practice…
KING: She retained you personally?
KILLEEN: Yes, she did.
KING: Tell us about her.
KILLEEN: She — my client is a wonderful woman. She’s smart, she’s bright, she’s articulate, she’s well educated. She’s got a degree. She’s working on her masters degree. She is just a delight. And I can’t wait for the media to get to meet her. She is very, very excited about the miracle of the birth of her eight children. And she’s really looking forward to being the best mom that she can possibly be to 14 children.
KING: Does she have any doubts about all this?
KILLEEN: I don’t think she has any doubts. I mean, once she had the…
KING: No?
KILLEEN: … ultrasound, and you know, initially everybody thought she was going to have seven. And you can imagine seven babies inside. And they weren’t quite ultrasounds (ph). You know, they move around, you can’t see anything. So the miracle was the day that she had the c-section and the doctors were in the operating room, and they thought they were finished. They said, well, wait a minute, there’s a little hand in there. So the little one put his finger on the surgeon’s glove. And they said, oh my gosh, there’s another one. And they weren’t really ready for eight. So they quickly had to get, you know, ready for eight in the surgery suite.
KING: Why would someone — I guess she will eventually do media?
KILLEEN: Yes, she will.
KING: Why would someone with six children, six children, want more?
KILLEEN: Well, you know, this is part of the story that she’s going to tell. I mean, she was hoping to have seven children. That’s something that Nadya always wanted to have. And she got the surprise, like everybody else. She got a few more.
KING: Did she at all — is she at all aware that a lot of people are criticizing this?
KILLEEN: Yes, she’s aware of it.
KING: And how is she reacting to that?
KILLEEN: You know, she’s a very balanced woman. She’s got perspective. She really wants to tell her story. And I just want to set the record straight and let everyone know that the rumors and the innuendoes and what I call the creative ideas about what’s going on with her in her life, you know, are just not true.
KING: Let’s cue them up. What’s not true?
KILLEEN: It’s not true that she is being paid multiple millions of dollars for going on the media. She is not doing a talk show in London. She is not going to have her own reality show about how to be a mom. I mean, all those stories that people are making up are just not true.
KING: How about “People” magazine?
KILLEEN: Larry, everybody’s called me. I have been retained as of Friday night. I have multiple packages and proposals to review. I told everybody that’s called me — and of course, everybody wants me to make a decision yesterday, what are we going to do. So I’m looking through every single proposal and I am going to sit down with my client this week and say, here are the pros and cons. You know, where do you want to go? How do you feel most comfortable? And you know, which one of these media do you want to go to and tell your amazing story?
KING: Now, of course, television doesn’t pay. Although some might, right? I don’t…
KILLEEN: Well, none of the major studios pay. This is a news story. So nobody’s made any kind of offers for money.
KING: Is monetary part of her goal here?
KILLEEN: Absolutely not. And she wanted me to set the record straight.
KING: Please.KILLEEN: She is a working professional. She was able to provide for her six children on her own prior to being pregnant with eight children. Now, she was a health care professional before these new ones came. She wants everybody to know that she’s not on welfare, has no plans on being a welfare mom, and really wants to look at every opportunity that she can to make sure that she can provide financially for the 14 children that she’s responsible for now.
KING: Still a lot more to learn. She does live with her parents though, right?
KILLEEN: No, she lives on her own. As you know, she’s been in the hospital for quite a few weeks on bed rest, anticipating the birth of the children. Her parents are helping out with the children right now, because obviously Nadya is still in the hospital. So her mom and dad, the grandparents, are taking care of the little kids, making sure they get to school and get on the bus, and everything else that you would do for little ones.
KING: How do the six feel about the eight?
KILLEEN: Well, they’re excited, but you know, typical kids, they think the eight new playmates are going to come home. They don’t understand that they’re tiny and they’re little and they’re not going to be playing Legos and coloring. I mean, it’s going to take a while for all of them to be able to play together as a group.
KING: Thanks, Joann. Hope to see you soon.
KILLEEN: Thank you, Larry. Thank you.
KING: Joann Killeen, the publicist for Nadya Suleman, the mother of 14.
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