Though she’s often said she’ll figure out a way to provide for her eight new babies, Nadya Suleman clearly didn’t mean she’d figure out a way to provide for them on her own. Today she told her local paper that she’s probably going to be applying for WIC, the federal government’s Women, Infants and Children program. It provides food and healthcare to children under the age of five – along with their mothers.

Nadya Suleman said she is contemplating applying for federal assistance to feed her 14 children. “If I need to apply for (the Women, Infants and Children program) to provide my babies with formula, then I’m going to,” she said Wednesday.

WIC provides federal grants to states for food, health care referrals and nutrition education for low-income women and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk. According to its site, a family of 15 would have to make more than $112,480 through June 30 to be ineligible for the WIC program.

Under the program, the octuplets, the six older children under age 8, and Suleman, 33, can receive baby formula, cereal, milk, cheese, vegetables and juice. Suleman, who gave birth to the world’s longest-surviving octuplets Jan. 26 at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center, said it would cost $2,000 a month for baby formula alone.

“That’s a lot of money for formula,” she said. Suleman said her priority is to feed her children and not worry about scrutiny regarding public assistance. “I have to let go of what people think. I can’t live like that,” she said.

[From the Whittier Daily News]

$2,000 is a lot of money to spend on baby formula every month. And obviously the state won’t give her aid if she makes more than $112,480 a year. But I can’t help but think that Suleman should still be better prioritizing her finances. I can’t get over that one of the first things she did was have a Jacuzzi tub installed in her bathroom. I’ll forgive the dishwasher because that’s a necessity when you’ve got 14 kids and probably have to do multiple loads a day. But I don’t see how she could explain away the Jacuzzi.

It is a shame that the taxpayers have to foot the bill for Suleman’s poor choices. But obviously the priority is to feed the babies, and nothing else compares with that. According to Wikipedia, Suleman will be able to buy eggs, cheese, milk, bread, peanut butter, tuna, juices, dry beans, fruits, vegetables, cereals, and infant formula. So basically most of the essentials except for meat (if you believe that meat is essential). The food that is WIC-approved is always the lowest cost item and most often the generic.

I go back and forth on whether it’d be better for Nadya to do a reality show and/or keep selling her story so she can at least pay for her own kids, or if she shouldn’t be able to “profit” off her bad choices, but would end up on state/federal aid. Both sides have big drawbacks. It bothers me to no end that she never had any plan in place and threw all her money into getting pregnant instead of providing for her children. She always just responded that she knew something would work out. Yeah… everyone else will work it out for her. It’s not ideal, but I guess at this point it is what it is.

Here’s Nadya on March 11th. Images thanks to Mavrix.