'Octomum' Nadya Suleman shares picture of octuplets at 12

‘Octomum’ Nadya Suleman has given fans a peek at her octuplets as they turn 12.

The US media personality – who hit the headlines in 2009 when she gave birth to eight babies after conceiving though IVF – shared the picture on Instagram.

It showed the octuplets dressed in animal onesies and beaming at the camera, with the family pets also getting in on the shot.

Watch: Kate confesses to challenges of parenting – and cutting her children’s hair

Read more: Octomum's eight children are all grown up in new family birthday shot

“Happy 12th birthday to 8 of the most kind, caring, and respectful kids I have ever known,” Suleman wrote.

“Your compassion for all living things and the value of humbly serving others is the definition of love. You make my heart full, and have blessed our lives abundantly.

“I am honoured to be your mother.

“I love you Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Josiah, and Makai.”

“I know grandma would be incredibly proud, and is lovingly looking down upon you from above,” she added.

Suleman, 45, is also mum to six older children who were also conceived through IVF, giving her a total of 14 children.

The octuplets are the only surviving set in the world and have the same surname as Suleman’s sperm donor - Solomon.

Suleman was hit with a backlash when she had the babies, with some deeming it irresponsible.

She was also in the news in later years when she dabbled in stripping and the adult film world to make money.

However, opening up in an interview in The New York Times in 2018, she said in the past she had been playing up a character in order to make money.

Read more: Inside Octomum's home raising 14 kids

“I was pretending to be a fake, a caricature, which is something I’m not, and I was doing it out of desperation and scarcity so I could provide for my family,” she said. “I’ve been hiding from the real world all my life.”

She also gave readers an insight into her family’s busy home life, saying they ate in shifts and that some of the children slept on the couch.

Watch: Octomum posts photo of eight children