Jon & Kate Plus 8: Difference between revisions

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
Created by	Figure 8 Films
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	([[List of Jon & Kate Plus 8 episodes|list of episodes]])
Production
Producer	Jennifer Stocks
Running time	approx. 23 minutes; specials approximately 46 minutes.
Original release
Network	Discovery Health Channel (2007) TLC (2008-present)
Release	April 16, 2007 – Present

Jon & Kate Plus 8 (sometimes styled as Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht) 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 fraternal twin girls and a set of sextuplets (three girls and three 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 on TLC. The family originally appeared in a one-hour special titled Surviving Sextuplets and Twins. The family lives in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

Kate Gosselin is one of five children.^[1] She has three sisters and a brother. The latter, Kevin, is often seen on the television series with his wife, Jodi, and their four children Ashtyn, Braden, Alyssa, and Benney.

Jonathan Gosselin is the middle child of three boys. His brothers are Thomas and Mark. His father, Thomas Gosselin, was a pediatric dentist who died in 2005. The couple met on October 51997 at a picnic. According to the "How It All Began" episode, Jon was working at a hotel and Kate had recently 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 121999 in "a perfect garden wedding with equally perfect weather".

Kate's desire to start a family was met with a feeling that she would not be able to conceive. She underwent testing and was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome. The couple decided to turn to fertility treatments and immediately began intrauterine insemination or IUI, a procedure where no embryos are left over from the procedure.^[2] By February, Kate was pregnant with twins. The couple was thrilled, admitting to having prayed for twins because they were both baby crazy and feared they would fight over one baby. On October 8 2000, Cara and Mady were born, after a "rough" pregnancy.^[3] They were born six minutes apart. In birth order, they are Cara Nicole Gosselin and Madelyn "Mady" Kate Gosselin.

When the twins turned three, 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 222008, Kate admitted that she had 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 return to fertility treatment.^[3] 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 with six yolks, or embryos. According to Kate, this was very emotional news for them, and left her shaking and sobbing and Jon near tears, unable to look at the sonogram screen. The doctor suggested selective reduction, but the couple was absolutely against doing so.^[3]

After experiencing the "worst weekend of [her] entire life",^[3] 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!"^[3]

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.

— Kate Gosselin, ^[1]

The sextuplets were born on (2004-05-10)May 10, 2004 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.

Born October 8, 2000

• Cara Nicole
• Madelyn "Mady" Kate

Born May 10, 2004

• Aaden Jonathan – 2 lbs 7.5 oz (1.12 kg), 13 inches (0.33 m)
• Hannah Joy – 2 lbs 11 oz (1.2 kg), 13.8 inches (0.35 m)
• Alexis Faith – 2 lbs 11.5 oz (1.23 kg), 15 inches (0.38 m)
• Collin Thomas – 3 lbs 5 oz (1.4 kg), 15 inches (0.38 m)
• Leah Hope – 2 lbs 14.8 oz (1.33 kg), 15.4 inches (0.39 m)
• Joel Kevin – 2 lbs 9.7 oz (1.18 kg), 15.4 inches (0.39 m)

Following the first two one-hour specials and prior to beginning filming on the series permanent light fixtures were installed in the Gosselin's home to facilitate filming and prevent the children from tripping over the wires and cables of temporary lighting. Unlike some reality series in which the stars are filmed at all times, Jon & Kate Plus 8 is filmed only three days a week with one day set aside for the interview sessions where Jon and Kate, and occasionally the children, discuss the events which take place in each episode. Jon and Kate also work closely with producers to decide what themes will be presented in each episode. In addition, Jon and Kate have admitted that over the years the production crew has become part of the family.^[4]

On August 27, 2008, Paul Peterson of non-profit minor entertainer activist foundation, A Minor Consideration, released a statement on their website, questioning the safety of the Gosselin children and their continued participation on the reality show. As reality television is not included in the same production class as those where children actors are hired and protected by law, A Minor Consideration expressed concern that the Gosselin children are being over exposed and damage done to them that will continue throughout the rest of their lives. In the statement, Jon and Kate Gosselin are directly advised to "Remove the cameras from your house, dismiss the film crew and tell them thanks."^[5]

In September of 2008, Jon and Kate Gosselin debuted an updated version of their official website. On the "Devotional" page of their new site, they appear to address the controversy citing a reference to scripture that instructs them to "repay evil with good" as well as commenting that God is instructing them to "keep their mouths shut" rather than acting with "retaliation and exposure".^[6]

• Jon, Kate, and family friend Beth Carson have written a book called Multiple Blessings to be released November 12008. Originally, the book was listed with Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson as co-authors, however the cover credits Jon as a co-author as well.^[7]
• Seasons 1 and 2 of Jon and Kate Plus 8 were released on DVD on July 16 2008, distributed online only by Discovery.^[8]. It will be released to mass market on September 9 2008, to be distributed by Genius (www.hotmoviesale.com). After this, TLC started selling Season 1 and Season 2 on separate DVDs.
• Seasons 1-2 will be released on October 21, 2008 in Canada.
• Season 3 DVD is coming out in November.

• The Gosselins are managed by Media Motion International in Los Angeles.^[9]

• Scott Pearson & David Imhof through Influence Music Publishing, ASCAP

• The Martha Stewart Show (October 2005)
• The Dr. Phil Show (April 2007)
• The Today Show (October 22007)
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show (October 162007)
• Access Hollywood (October 222007)
• The Oprah Winfrey Show (February 222008)
• The Today Show (June 122008)
• The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet (June 132008)

1. Gosselin, Kate (2008-02-05). "Naptime Musings From Jon & Kate Plus 8". Orato. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
2. Mosteller, Rachel. "Celebrity Dish: Jon and Kate Gosselin". ParentDish. Retrieved on 2008-06-17.
3. "Our Story". Sixgosselins.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-14.
4. Woo, Michelle (May 2008). "JUST THE 10 OF US". KoreAm Journal. Retrieved on 2008-08-07.
5. "Time to Exit, Jon & Kate". minorcon.org (2008-08-27). Retrieved on 2008-09-06.
6. "Jon & Kate's Favorite Versus", sixgosselins.com. Retrieved on 2008-09-06.
7. Multiple Blessings: Surviving To Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets book listing. Christianbooks.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
8. "Jon & Kate Plus 8: Seasons 1 & 2 DVD Set". Shopping.Discovery.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
9. Media Motion International client listing. mediamotionintl.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.

• TLC: 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.