WHITTIER, Calif. (AP) – In her first interview since giving birth to octuplets, Nadya Suleman tells NBC she wanted a huge family to make up for the isolation she says she always felt as an only child.

In a brief excerpt of the interview released Thursday, the 33-year-old single mother tells “Today” show anchor Ann Curry she had a dysfunctional childhood and sought to erase that with the closeness children could bring. NBC says the full interview will air Monday.

Suleman, who now has 14 children, says all were conceived through in vitro fertilization with sperm donated by a friend.

The octuplets, born last week, remain hospitalized. The others range in age from 2 to 7.

Suleman says it took seven years of trying before she became pregnant with her first child.