The father of the California woman who gave birth to octuplets told TV host Oprah Winfrey that he hoped people did not punish his grandchildren for his daughter’s “irresponsible” behaviour.

The grandmother of California’s newborn octuplets faces the threat of foreclosure on the house she has shared with her daughter and six of her grandchildren.

The fertility doctor who helped a California woman have 14 children, including octuplets born last month, is facing a state investigation on top of harsh criticism from medical ethics experts.

The Southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets last week was discharged from hospital today, officials said.

The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week conceived all 14 of her children through in vitro fertilisation, is not married and has been obsessed with having children since she was a teenager, her mother said.

The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week has six other children and never expected to have eight more when she took fertility treatment, her mother said today.

Few condemned inmates have generated as much public support as Stanley Tookie Williams, and so much post-execution attention.

STANLEY Tookie Williams, who was executed in California yesterday, maintained his innocence right up until his death, even when an admission of guilt may have spared him execution.

Convicted killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the Crips gang co-founder whose case stirred a debate about capital punishment and the possibility of redemption, was executed this morning.

Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to block the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, rejecting the notion that the founder of the murderous Crips gang had atoned for his crimes and found redemption on death row.

Gangster Stanley Tookie Williams will be killed by lethal injection today after California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to block his execution.