Jon & Kate Plus 8

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Jon & Kate Plus 8
Jon and Kate Plus 8
Format Reality Television
Created by Figure 8 Films
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Production
Running time approx. 27 minutes (30 with commercials); occasionally an hour
Broadcast
Original channel Discovery Health Channel
Original airing April 16, 2007 -- Present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

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 airs Mondays at 9:00pm ET/PT on TLC. The family originally appeared in a one hour special titled Surviving Sextuplets and Twins.

The family lives in Central Pennsylvania.

Contents

[edit] Story

Jon and Kate Gosselin met on October 5, 1997 at a picnic. 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".

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. 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.[1]

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. After a lot of prayer and even turning down the option to adopt a newborn, Jon and Kate agreed to try again. By October, Kate was pregnant. Five weeks later, 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".[2] After experiencing the "worst weekend of [her] 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 realise 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, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel.[3]

[edit] Family

[edit] Parents

  • Jonathan 'Jon' Gosselin (born April 1, 1977 (1977-04-01) (age 31). Jon is half Korean (Korean mother, French/Welsh father), and used to work as an IT analyst.
  • Kate Gosselin (born March 28, 1975 (1975-03-28) (age 33)), used to be a nurse, but quit her job to take care of the children full-time. [4]

[edit] Twins

The twins were born on October 8, 2000 (2000-10-08) (age 7). They are currently in the 1st grade at a private school. They were born just six minutes apart. In birth order, they are Cara Nicole Gosselin and Madelyn Kate "Mady" Gosselin.

[edit] Sextuplets

The sextuplets were born on May 10, 2004 (2004-05-10) (age 4) 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 and Sassy.)
  • Hannah Joy Gosselin - 2 lb 11 oz, 13.8 inches long (Also called Hannie)
  • Aaden Jonathan Gosselin - 2 lb 7.5 oz, 13 inches long (The only child that wears glasses.)
  • Collin Thomas Gosselin - 3 lb 0.5 oz, 15 inches long (The biggest of the six.)
  • Leah Hope Gosselin - 2 lb 14.8 oz, 15.4 inches long (The youngest and smallest of the girls.)
  • Joel Kevin Gosselin - 2 lb 9.7 oz, 15.4 inches long (Also called Joely)

When picking the kids' names, Jon and Kate selected names they liked for first names, but the middle names were more meaningful: Aaden's after Jon, Collin's after Jon's late father, and Joel's after Kate's brother. Those of the girls (Hope, Faith, Joy) are all fruits of the spirit, taken from Galatians 5:22-23 in the Bible.

[edit] 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 an hour long. Season 4 will begin on June 30, 2008, with the first episode being "Gosselin Family Movie Night".

[edit] Videos and books

  • Jon, Kate, and family friend, Beth Carson, have written a book called Multiple Blessings, to be released November 1, 2008.
  • Season 1 and 2 of Jon and Kate Plus 8 will be available on DVD on July 16, 2008.[5] which will only be distributed online by Discovery.

[edit] Pre-Series Specials

  • Surviving Sextuplets and Twins (1 hour episode)
  • Sextuplets and Twins: One Year Later (1 hour episode)

[edit] Season 1

  • Gosselins Go West
  • Housekeeper Hunt
  • 10 Little Pumpkins
  • Garage Remodel
  • Shopping for Ten
  • Twins Turn 6
  • Pancakes and Potties
  • Jon Turns 30

[edit] Season 2

  • Sextuplets Turn 3!
  • Gosselins Go Dutch
  • Breakfast in Bed
  • Sextuplets' First Dental Visit
  • Red, White & Gosselin
  • Sugar Rush
  • A Cow Purchase
  • Sara Snow Visits!
  • Babies & Bedrooms
  • Babies & Bedrooms, Part II

[edit] Season 3

  • Trip to the Zoo
  • Twins Turn 7!
  • Kate Hires a Nanny
  • Potty Training the Boys
  • Winter Preparation
  • Family Photo Shoot
  • Kate's Wardrobe Makeover
  • Day in the Life
  • Behind the Scenes of Jon and Kate Plus 8
  • Gosselin Family Christmas
  • Plane Ride to Utah
  • Gosselin Go Skiing (1 hour episode)
  • Viewer FAQ
  • Twins Get Musical
  • Cooking with the Twins
  • Carpeting the House
  • Valentine's Day
  • Color Me Gosselin
  • Leah and Joel
  • Hannah and Aaden
  • Alexis and Collin
  • Cara's Day
  • Mady's Day
  • Games Gosselins Play
  • Oprah, Here We Come
  • Household Chores
  • Gosselins Take the Stage
  • Jon and Kate's Special Day
  • Memorial Day Picnic (1 hour episode)
  • Discipline
  • Jon's Hair Raising Experience (1 hour episode)
  • How They Got Here [6]
  • Boys Day Out
  • Girls Day Out

[edit] Season 4

  • Gosselin Family Movie Night (1 hour episode)
  • Sextuplets' 4th Birthday

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jon & Kate's Story
  2. ^ Naptime Musings From Jon & Kate Plus 8 | Orato | True Stories, Citizen News, Eyewitness Reports, Free Notices
  3. ^ Jon & Kate's Story
  4. ^ Discovery Health :: Jon & Kate + 8
  5. ^ Jon & Kate Plus 8: Seasons 1 & 2 DVD Set - Discovery Channel Store - 110726
  6. ^ Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Series Overview - MSN TV