This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Shalomsteph (talk | contribs) at 05:48, 24 June 2008 (→Controversy). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 05:48, 24 June 2008 by Shalomsteph (talk | contribs) (→Controversy)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Jon & Kate Plus 8" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Jon & Kate Plus 8 | |
|---|---|
| File:Jon and Kate Plus 8 | |
| Created by | Figure 8 Films |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | (]) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 27 minutes (30 with commercials); occasionally an hour |
| Original release | |
| Network | Discovery Health Channel |
| Release | April 16 2007 -- Present |
Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a reality television show produced in the United States by Figure 8 Films about the Gosselin family, consisting of parents Jon and Kate and their eight children - a set of twins (both girls), and a set of sextuplets (3 girls and 3 boys). The show follows the family through their daily lives, focusing on the challenges of raising multiple children. The show originally aired on Discovery Health but starting with Season 3, airs Mondays at 9:00pm ET/PT on TLC. The family originally appeared in a one hour special titled Surviving Sextuplets and Twins. It's also been reported that the show draws in an average of 2.5 million viewers per episode, making it one of the most-watched reality series on TV. The family lives in Central Pennsylvania.
Story
Kate Gosselin is one of five children. She has three sisters, Christen, Kendra and Clairissa, and a brother, Kevin. Kevin is often seen on the television series with his wife, Jodi, and their children Ashtyn, Braden, Alyssa, and Bennett. They were shown watching the Gosselin children during the "Mady's Day", "Cara's Day", "Leah's Day", "Hannah's Day", "Alexis' Day" and "Jon's Hair Raising Experience" episodes during season three.
Jonathan Gosselin is the middle child of three boys born to Thomas Gosselin and his Korean wife. His brothers are Thomas and Mark. His father, Thomas Gosselin, was a pediatric dentist who died on January 13, 2005, according to his obituary in the Reading Eagle, published on January 15, 2005. Jon and Kate have often referred to Dr. Gosselin as the only involved grandparent. The remaining grandparents "are not a part of their every day lives"
Jon and Kate Gosselin met on October 5 1997 at a picnic. According to the "How It All Began" episode, Jon was working at a hotel and Kate had just graduated from her nursing program. According to Kate, "I never believed in 'love at first sight', but this came really close." They were married on June 12 1999 in "a perfect garden wedding with equally perfect weather". In the "How It All Began" episode of season three, they also said they paid for the wedding themselves.
Kate wanted to have children right away. She had a feeling that she would not be able to conceive, so she underwent testing and was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome. So, they decided to turn to fertility treatments and to start trying immediately, in case it took a while. The specific treatment they used is called intrauterine insemination or IUI, where no embryos were left over from the procedure. By February, however, Kate was pregnant with twins. They were thrilled and even admitted to praying for twins because they were both baby crazy and feared they would fight over one baby. On October 8 2000, Cara Nicole and Madelyn Kate were born, after a "rough" pregnancy.
When the girls turned one, Kate began to think about the possibility of having another child, while Jon was not so sure. On the couple's appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show that aired on February 22 2008, Kate admitted that she wanted to have another child because she wanted to know what it felt like to not have to split her time between two babies, while Jon was hesitant because he felt like the world is built for a family of four. According to Kate, a Korean infant became available while Kate was an obstetrics nurse. They decided not to adopt the baby boy, but instead returned to fertility treatment. After a lot of prayer Jon and Kate agreed to try again. By October, Kate was pregnant. Five weeks later,(after being hospitalized for over-stimulated ovaries) at the initial ultrasound, the doctor announced that there were seven sacs and began to count how many of these sacs had yolks, or babies, inside of them. According to Kate, "By ‘four’ I was pretty crazy, by ‘five’ I was sobbing. Then they found 'six' and 'seven'. (One baby didn’t develop on its own)". The doctor suggested selective reduction, but they were absolutely against doing so.
As Kate describes it, "Your whole life flashes in front of your eyes...we had a house that was too small, we didn’t have a vehicle big enough, we didn’t have the income that would be required…there were just all these things flying at us. All those thoughts flooding through my mind equalled completely impossible". After experiencing the "worst weekend of entire life", Jon took the girls to the family's church. He asked if he should tell anyone about their situation, and Kate agreed that he should so that the church could start praying for their family. As soon as church was over, Jon and Kate received many calls of encouragement. According to Kate, "I began to feel like we could do this! With God's help, of course!"
In an article written for orato.com, Kate admitted that the video of her when she was pregnant with the sextuplets was actually three weeks before she gave birth. She added: "I remember lying in the hospital bed thinking, ‘No matter how far I get these babies, it’s never going to be far enough'. Getting to 32 weeks was my goal, but that would still be eight weeks premature, times six. Every day starting at about 23 weeks I had an ultrasound to make sure that all of them were still alive, and each and everyday was just as nerve wracking as the one before. There wasn’t an ounce of relief until they were all home. Not long after we had them home, Jon whirled around one day with complete frustration and exhaustion in his voice and said, 'Do you realize we have been walking on eggshells now for an entire year?' That was the honest truth".
On May 10 2004, Kate gave birth to three girls and three boys: Alexis Faith, Hannah Joy, Aaden Jonathan, Collin Thomas, Leah Hope and Joel Kevin.
Controversy
In 2005, Kate Gosselin appealed a Medicaid decision to no longer continue to provide a full time nurse for the sextuplets after the age of one year. Kate is quoted as saying, "I am urging them to see us as a rare situation, which we are," she said. "And I am begging them to make a special exception. They are six individuals. One mom cannot take care of them. "I might be able to meet their physical needs, but not the emotional needs. It is very difficult. I'm talking about time to talk about feelings, read books and the absolute bare necessities to get done. I cannot do it five days a week."
Their previous website includes many appeals to the public for things they wanted to be given. It started mostly with prayer requests and for financial contributions, but as the community began to generously meet their wants and needs, the requests became larger. They wanted someone to pay for their previously free baby nurse, Angie, financial help with the twins' preschool, and a 15 passenger van. In 2005, they did purchase a 2004 Dodge Sprinter 2500 passenger van. They also requested (through prayer) a bigger house The couple came under public scrutiny through the years , and questions regarding the graciousness and motivations of the young family were made public by the referenced columnist in the Reading Eagle.
Despite their current website claiming there are no college funds, the Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania did set up TAP funds for all eight children, as announced during the sextuplet's first birthday party. The press release is as follows:
If you would like to make a contribution to the Gosselin Family’s TAP account, you can do so by making your check payable to “TAP 529,” writing “Gosselin” in the memo portion of the check, and sending your contributions to: Gosselin Sextuplets and Twins Accounts, TAP Bureau, 218 Finance Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120. More information on the Tuition Account Program can be obtained by calling 1-800-440-4000 or by visiting the Treasury website and clicking on Tuition Account Program.
Due to privacy issues, the amounts donated to these accounts is not known, and may or may not be substantial.
The Gosselins are currently in the fourth season of Jon and Kate Plus 8. In 2005, Jon worked in IT for the Governor's Office in Harrisburg.. On June 13, 2008 episode of The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet, Jon commented that he is currently employed from home. Both Gosselins are currently doing public speaking about their experiences as the parents of twins and sextuplets. Some of these churches do cash love offerings for the couple, , and Jon and Kate also sell autographed photos. They currently charge $10 for individual pictures of the children and $20 for a larger picture with everyone.
The Gosselins have also been scrutinized for product endorsement on their show and those products are also posted under "Our favorite businesses" on their website. Recently, Jon received a free hair transplant from "The New Hair Institute" in Los Angeles. Jon blames his "stressful" family for his receding hairline, although his brother, Thomas,appears to be balding as well.. Also included is the plastic surgeon, Lawrence S. Glassman, who provided Kate with free liposuction and a tummy tuck.
Family
Parents
- Jonathan "Jon" Gosselin (born (1977-04-01) April 1, 1977 (age 47). Jon is half Korean (Korean mother, French/Welsh father), and used to work as an I.T. analyst. He now engages in public speaking.
- Katie "Kate" Gosselin (born (1975-03-28) March 28, 1975 (age 49), used to be a registered nurse, but quit her job to take care of the children full-time. She also engages in public speaking events with her husband.
Twins
The twins were born on (2000-10-08) October 8, 2000 (age 24). They are currently going into 2nd grade in the fall at a private school. They were born just six minutes apart. In birth order, they are Cara Nicole Gosselin and Madelyn "Mady" Kate Gosselin.
Sextuplets
The sextuplets were born on (2004-05-10) May 10, 2004 (age 20) at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. All six children were delivered within a span of three minutes with more than fifty doctors, nurses and other specialists involved. Since the sextuplets were born in Hershey, they are called "Hershey Kisses" by the nurses and doctors who delivered them.
In birth order they are:
- Alexis Faith Gosselin - 2 lb 11.5 oz, 15 inches long (also called "Lexi" or "Sassy", and is the oldest of the six.)
- Hannah Joy Gosselin - 2 lb 11 oz, 13.8 inches long (also called "Hannie", and is a mommy's girl.)
- Aaden Jonathan Gosselin - 2 lb 7.5 oz, 13 inches long (also called "Ay-day" and "the professor", only child that wears glasses, and fond of animals.)
- Collin Thomas Gosselin - 3 lb 0.5 oz, 15 inches long (also called "Coggy" or "Collie", and is the biggest of the six.)
- Leah Hope Gosselin - 2 lb 14.8 oz, 15.4 inches long (also called a little "princess", and is the smallest of the six.)
- Joel Kevin Gosselin - 2 lb 9.7 oz, 15.4 inches long (also called "Joelie", the youngest of the six, and is a daddy's boy.)
When picking the kids' names, Jon and Kate selected names they liked for first names, but the middle names were more meaningful: Aaden after Jon, Collin after Jon's late father, and Joel after Kate's brother. The girls are all named for fruits of the spirit, taken from Galatians 5:22-23 in the Bible,according to Jon. However, hope is not referenced in that bible passage.
Seasons
Currently, there are three seasons of Jon and Kate Plus 8. Usually one or two new episodes air on Monday nights. Two episodes aired during the Writers' Strike while one episode tends to air now. Occasionally an episode will be 1 hour long.
Videos and books
- Jon, Kate, and family friend, Beth Carson, have written a book called Multiple Blessings, to be released November 1, 2008. Originally ,the book was listed with Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson as the authors;Jon was added as an author after the initial press release,but before publication.
- Seasons 1 and 2 of Jon and Kate Plus 8 will be available on DVD as of July 16, 2008, which will only be distributed online by Discovery.
- Jon and Kate are managed by Media Motion International in Los Angeles.
Episodes
Further information: List of Jon & Kate Plus 8 episodesSpecial guest appearances
- The Martha Stewart Show (October 2005)
- The Dr. Phil Show (April 2007)
- The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet (June 13, 2007)
- The Today Show (October 2, 2007)
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show (October 16, 2007)
- Access Hollywood (October 22, 2007)
- The Oprah Winfrey Show (February 22, 2008)
- The Today Show (June 12, 2008)
- The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet (June 13, 2008)
References
- http://www.orato.com/arts-entertainment/2008/02/05/naptime-musings-jon-amp-kate-plus-8
- http://www.readingeaglearchives.com
- ^ "FAQ". Sixgosselins.com. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- Mosteller, Rachel. "Celebrity Dish: Jon and Kate Gosselin". ParentDish. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- "Naptime Musings From Jon & Kate Plus 8". Orato.com. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ Vassilaros, Dimitri (2005-05-15). "Eight is Enough". Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20040507022419/www.sixgosselins.com/Help/
- http://web.archive.org/web/20050320030906/http://www.sixgosselins.com/
- http://sixgosselins.com/FAQ.html
- http://web.archive.org/web/20060111185416/http://www.sixgosselins.com/
- http://www.koreamjournal.com/Magazine/index.php/kj/2008/may/cover_story/just_the_10_of_us
- http://internetservices.readingeagle.com/blog/mother/archives/2005/05/count_your_bles_1.html
- http://sixgosselins.com/FAQ.html
- "Lt. Governor Knoll remarks on Gosselin Six Birthday" (copy)
- http://www.mandjshow.com/videos/it’s-“jon-and-kate-8”/
- http://www.clanbroadus.com/mog_jonkate.html
- http://www.elkcreekonline.com/jk8.htm
- http://mtzionboulder.org/main_pages/jonkate.htm
- http://www.clanbroadus.com/mog_jonkate.html
- "Jon & Kate plus 8 Facebook Group". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
- http://sixgosselins.com/Our_Favorite_Businesses.html
- http://www.mountathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10900&ATCLID=880573&Q_SEASON=2007
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22wwln-medium-t.html?_r=3&ref=magazine&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
- http://www.clanbroadus.com/mog_jonkate.html
- http://www.elkcreekonline.com/jk8.htm
- http://mtzionboulder.org/main_pages/jonkate.htm
- "Meet the Gosselins". Health.Discovery.com. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5:22-23
- http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/815071198?item_no=289020&netp_id=524244&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW&view=details
- http://shop.campusi.com/book_title_Multiple_Blessings_by_author_Gosselin.htm
- "Jon & Kate Plus 8: Seasons 1 & 2 DVD Set". Shopping.Discovery.com. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
- http://mediamotionintl.com/
External links
- Discovery Health: Jon & Kate + 8
- Gosselin Sextuplets & Twins (family's official site)
- Surviving Sextuplets & Twins, Figure 8 Films
- Template:TV.com
- "Eight is Great!" Pacific Citizen feature article.