Octomom Defends Going on Welfare: 'It's 100 Percent About My Children

Nadya Suleman, better known as "Octomom," is defending her decision to go on welfare and says she will be off public assistance soon.

"I still am working as hard as I possibly can to support them,’’ Suleman said Thursday during an appearance on NBC's "Today." Suleman has 14 children, eight of whom she gave birth to in 2009 through in-vitro fertilization.

She said she made the call to go on public assistance "reluctantly," and said fear and pride initially stopped her from accepting help.

"[My] priority is my children, their health, their well-being, their safety," she said. "Who cares how I feel? Who cares about me? It’s 100 percent about my children.’’

Suleman said she hopes to be off public assistance within two months, citing incoming revenue from an online project called “Octomom TV’’ that will raise money through advertising and her participation in “Dial-A-Star,’’ which allows people to call in and talk to a "real celebrity" for a fee. She also recently posed topless for a British magazine, but told NBC's Matt Lauer she will never do pornography, stating flatly, "I won’t touch other human flesh. The only flesh I’m touching is my own."

"I would never, never accept anything. I will not lose my grip of my deeply indoctrinated morals and values," Suleman said. "I have to be the ultimate positive role model [for my children]."