The mother of octuplets born in California is staying at "an undisclosed location" after receiving death threats, her spokesman has confirmed.
Nadya Suleman, whose decision to give birth to the octuplets after undergoing fertility treatment despite already having six children, was expected to return home later this week, Michael Furtney told AFP.
The revelations come as amazing pictures were published of Suleman's massive belly just eight days before giving birth.
Smiling proudly and lifting a green shirt, the mother-of-14 displays the huge strain the octuplets took on her body in pictures on entertainment website TMZ.
Suleman has been staying at an undisclosed location — reportedly a hotel — after leaving hospital following advice from security advisors, Furtney said.
"We agreed that while many of the threats were not serious, they were certainly serious enough that he suggested that we took the precaution of being in a place that was safe and secure," Furtney told AFP.
"I believe now she's getting ready to go home. I'm not 100 percent certain of the timing but it's likely to be in the next day or two."
Furtney said Suleman had received a "mix" of positive and negative messages following the octuplets' birth on January 26.
"In the last day or so there has been I think an increase in the numbers of positive ones which is heartening," he said.
Suleman has set up a website — www.thenadyasulemanfamily.com — where wellwishers can post messages or make a donation.
"There have been many calls and offers," Furtney said. "One woman even offered to send breast milk. A farm family in the midwest offered to have Nadya and her children come live them. There's been an amazing variety."
The site says the babies "are all healthy and growing stronger by the day."
Suleman's case has triggered condemnation, with her mother criticizing her daughter's decision to have the children as "unconscionable" while fertility experts slammed the Beverly Hills clinic which carried out her treatment.
The Medical Board of California is investigating the case.
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.
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