The mother of the octuplets born this week already has six other young children and refused the option of a selective abortion when told she was expecting multiple babies, it has emerged.

Instead the woman, who has not been publicly named, chose to go ahead and give birth, giving her a total haul of 14 children.

Today, as all the babies continued to make good progress in a Los Angeles hospital, it emerged that the mother’s existing six children were under the age of eight, including one set of twins.

The family live with both her and her parents in the well-kept suburb of Whittier, near Los Angeles.

Angela Suleman, her mother, disclosed to the LA Times today that her daughter had embryos implanted last year and "they all happened to take". Despite doctors giving her an opportunity to selectively reduce the number, she refused.

The subsequent birth, while being only the second time in history that octuplets have been born and all survived, caused worldwide attention – but also some discomfort among critics who have questioned the medical ethics of implanting multiple embryos, which makes multiple births more likely.

"What do you suggest she should have done?" Ms Suleman told the newspaper. "She refused to have them killed. That is a very painful thing."

The mother, who described the newborn babies as "so tiny and beautiful", admitted that being able to bring up 14 children – the others are aged seven, six, five, three and two – would be difficult. She added that her daughter's father was going back to Iraq, where he is believed to work as a contractor, to help support the extended family.

Although the octuplets' mother has not been identified in order to protect the identities of her young children, journalists have tracked the family down to what was said to be a cul-de-sac in Whittier.

The woman, who is believed to be 33 years of age, gave birth to the octuplets last Monday at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Centre in Bellflower, where the youngsters remain. They were delivered by a team of 46 doctors, nurses and assistants, with the entire procedure lasting just five minutes. Doctors said the eighth child was a complete surprise, as they had only expected seven.

Hours after media vans and reporters gathered outside the Whittier home, the hospital issued a fresh statement on behalf of the mother requesting privacy.

"Please know, in our own time, we will share additional details about this miraculous experience," the statement read.

"The babies continue to grow strong every day and make good progress. My family and I are ecstatic about all of their arrivals. Needless to say the eighth was a surprise to us all, but a blessing as well."

Dr Mandhir Gupta, one of the delivery team, said that seven of the babies were breathing without assistance. One was still receiving oxygen through a tube in his nose. Seven of the infants were being tube-fed donated breast milk. One of the boys was expected to begin feeding today. All babies continued to receive an intravenous nutritional combination. They were expected to remain in the hospital for several more weeks.

The medical community, meanwhile, remain divided about the ethics of implanting so many embryos when the chances of an unusually large number of multiple births were so high. According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, doctors would usually refuse to implant any more than two embryos at any given time for a woman under the age of 35.

Dr Harold Henry, who was part of the delivery team, told the LA Times that he had given Ms Suleman the option of aborting some of the foetuses.

"What I do is just explain the facts. I always talk about the risks," he said. "The mother weighs those options, and she chooses the option based on spiritual or personal makeup."

However, most practitioners - while confirming that guidance tells them not to implant multiple embryos - acknowledge the choice is not ultimately theirs to make and rests solely with the mother. "Who am I to say that six is the limit?" Dr Jeffrey Steinberg, medical director of Fertility Institutes, which has clinics in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York City, told the Associated Press news agency. "There are people who like to have big families."

Dr James Grifo, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the New York University School of Medicine, added: "I don’t think it's our job to tell them how many babies they’re allowed to have. I am not a policeman for reproduction in the United States. My role is to educate patients."

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