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All Kate Gosselin wanted was one more baby.
She and her husband, Jon, had three-year-old twins, Cara and Madelyn (called "Mady"), who had arrived, with the help of fertility treatments, in 2000. Due to Kate's polycystic ovary syndrome, she had to undergo fertility treatments for her second pregnancy as well. The stunning result was not one baby, but six. When Kate's obstetrician suggested selective reduction, both Kate and Jon immediately rejected the idea. "Who would live and who would die was not a decision that rested in our hands," Kate explains.
After months of grueling medical treatments and bedrest (and 65 pounds of baby weight!), Kate gave birth to Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel in 2004. An army of friends and strangers invaded their suburban Pennsylvania home to help with feeding, bathing, changing, and monitoring the bustling brood. Their presence was both life-saving and stress-inducing for uber-organized, type-A Kate.
Intrigued by news reports on the Gosselins' unusual family, producers at Discovery Health filmed Surviving Sextuplets and Twins, which aired in May 2006, as well as Surviving Sextuplets and Twins: One Year Later. These shows eventually birthed Jon & Kate Plus Eight, currently TLC's highest-rated show. Now in its fourth season, the show takes its millions of fans inside the Gosselins' home, where there are strict rules, abundant laughter, frequent nagging, and constant praise for God's provision.
This past November, Kate, 33, and Jon, 31, released Multiple Blessings (Zondervan), a book chronicling their amazing pregnancy and difficult first year as parents of eight (the twins are now eight and the sextuplets, four). Click here to read a chapter from this book, sharing six lessons Kate has learned from being a mom of sextuplets. And read on for our conversation with this exhausted, faith-filled, and refreshingly real woman.
What motivated you to invite the public to watch your life on the TLC show?
I just want people to see realness. From the beginning, I had no desire to paint a sweet little picture of our lives. We did many news interviews after the sextuplets were born, and they always turned out so cute and cuddly. Yes, the babies were cute and cuddly, but those news stories never showed real life. Because in reality, Jon and I argued. We didn't get any sleep. We were so exhausted, we were shaking. We didn't know which end was up.
So when we started the show, I wanted to reveal the truth. We have nothing to hide. We're not perfect; we're the first to admit that. But no family is perfect. And I think that's why people relate to the show.
And yet some people have been critical of the show.
Yeah. I definitely know there's a lot of ugliness out there about us. Honestly, I think a lot of it's because people squirm at how real we are. I think it bothers some people because it makes them think, If cameras were at my house, what would they capture? Would I be okay with that being aired?
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