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Multiple Blessings
Three years after giving birth to twin daughters, Kate and Jon Gosselin became pregnant again---with sextuplets. Kate's candid and emotionally-charged book chronicles the exhausting challenges she and Jon faced from the time the babies were conceived through the first two years of their lives, and the faith it took to get through each day.
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First published January 1, 2008
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October 2, 2017
My review, Dec. 2008: My thoughts? First, I would read a library copy rather than buying the book. If you're a faithful viewer of the show, and I assume most who read the book would be, you really won't learn a lot that you don't already know. Don't buy it for the photos - all the photos are black and white, on the regular book pages. Nothing color or glossy. If you want cute photos of the baby Gosselins, check out their original website.
The book begins with Jon and Kate meeting, and quickly moves into their quest to have children. The book is written from Kate's point of view, although Jon and Beth Carson (a friend) are also listed as authors. The writing flows pretty well, although here and there some awkward phrases stick out: Jon didn't mind "having his eye caught on me," Kate tells us. She also claims to be "often comforted" by a quote of Abraham Lincoln ("The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time"), which seems a little unexpected for Kate.
They get married in June and Kate is pregnant by February, which makes one wonder whether the fertility quest was even needed. When the twins turn two, Kate has the now-famous desire for "just one more", and of course we know the rest.
The book does delve into her pregnancy quite a bit, which is interesting. She went to the hospital in March, two months before the sextuplets were born. This had to be, to use a favorite Kate word, "exhausting". She details how hard it was to be away from her girls during that time.
In a November 2008 article in Good Housekeeping magazine, Kate says, "Other families of sextuplets have both moms living right around the corner, helping them. We've had none of that." Well ... not exactly. She details in the book how helpful her mom was, visiting her daily in the hospital and giving her handfuls of index cards with Bible verses written on them. The family also lived with Kate's parents for at least a week or so after the sextuplets were born. This all leads one to wonder what happened with her parents, who are now totally out of the picture in Jon and Kate's lives. Her dad is not mentioned at all in the book.
After the babies are born and Kate can no longer stand staying at her parents', Jon makes some calls and gets approval for the to stay at the Ronald McDonald House for a few weeks. Hershey then offers them the use of a condo. This appears to be the beginning of the great good monetary fortune bestowed upon the family.
And they do need fortune, as Jon loses one job while Kate is pregnant and works at another just a month before being fired after the babies are born. We are left to wonder exactly why this is ... Kate infers that it's because the companies didn't want to pay for health insurance for the family, but who knows?
Kate later laments that volunteers helping with the babies "took a stab at (Jon's) male ego" by asking if he had yet found a job. I had to laugh at this, observing how Kate takes stabs at Jon's ego during every other sentence of their couch confessionals on the show.
Kate liberally sprinkles Bible verses throughout the book, and begins each chapter with a meaningful verse. This began to bother me. As a Christian, I love that she quotes the Bible. But, her actions speak so loudly that it's hard to hear her words after awhile.
"Can't anyone see that I'm bleeding over here?" Kate asks (figuratively bleeding, folks, not literally), as she lies in bed while a crowd of volunteers is feeding her babies in the living room. She becomes irritated as she hears the volunteers cheerily discussing things like getting pedicures and expensive haircuts.
At this point, I want to scream, "Woman! If you can just hold things together for a year or two, you'll have all the free pedicures and expensive haircuts you can handle!" And then I think, maybe this is how God feels about us when we are ungrateful and complain. I have to tell you, it was really convicting to me and makes me think twice before feeling irritated. This was one thing I took from the book.
Kate does say throughout the book that she knows she is blessed with the healthy babies, all kinds of freebies, dozens of volunteer helpers, etc. However, a statement like this is inevitably followed a page or so later with her complaining about something else. This just goes on and on, to the point where I honestly wish Kate could get some medical and/or psychological help. Surely if medicine could give her 8 healthy children, it could give her more peace of mind!
This got me to thinking about personality types. In the book, Kate comes across just like she does on the show: trying to enjoy life, but often frustrated and unhappy. This despite all the fame and fortune that has come their way. It's instructive to all of us who feel that "the grass is always greener" - if you're not happy now, you probably wouldn't be even if you had everything.
Kate also discusses having been brought up with "very stringent guidelines and rules", which she oddly seems unhappy about, since she is now such a proponent of stringent guidelines and rules for her own children. An interesting example of how we repeat what we know ...
Jon comes across as he does on the show also: helping tirelessly, seemingly the real hero of the family. Kate mentions that at night he would carry the babies to bed one by one, stopping to hold each one up to her lips for her to kiss. Although this is very sweet of Jon, it made me want to scream at Kate. Please GET UP OUT OF YOUR CHAIR and help put your own kids to bed, gosh darn it! It's very reminiscent of the many scenes in the show where Kate is parked in her plastic chair, observing but rarely getting personally involved.
The last 30 pages or so of the book take on a more hopeful tone. Realizing that they have no vehicle to transport the entire family, Jon and Kate do some research and end up purchasing a Dodge Sprinter van, which seats 10. It's refreshing to see that, at least in the early days, they did buy things for themselves. They host a big first birthday party for the sextuplets and invite 100, mainly folks who have volunteered to make their first year easier.
In August 2005, when the sextuplets are just over a year old, the Gosselins are contacted by a TV company wanting to do a one-hour documentary on their life. Kate describes how Jon was adamantly opposed to this and that she was leaning against it also, but was convinced by this line from the producers: "We do television to help people understand other people better." I can see that this would be convincing to Kate, as she always seems to feel misunderstood by others. She lists this quote, and the desire to have family memories forever captured on film, as the reasons they made the life-changing decision to do the documentary, which later led to the television series.
The book ends with Kate listing 6 lessons God has taught her through her children: God is in control (although I think it's debatable whether or not Kate fully realizes this yet), God is gracious and strong, etc.
I found myself a bit disappointed that the book ends at this point, when the sextuplets are still so small. However, as I mentioned at the outset, the Gosselins already have at least one more book ready to roll off the presses, and we have learned that where there's publicity to be had, they'll usually have it. So stay tuned for the next printed installment of the Gosselins' adventures.
The book begins with Jon and Kate meeting, and quickly moves into their quest to have children. The book is written from Kate's point of view, although Jon and Beth Carson (a friend) are also listed as authors. The writing flows pretty well, although here and there some awkward phrases stick out: Jon didn't mind "having his eye caught on me," Kate tells us. She also claims to be "often comforted" by a quote of Abraham Lincoln ("The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time"), which seems a little unexpected for Kate.
They get married in June and Kate is pregnant by February, which makes one wonder whether the fertility quest was even needed. When the twins turn two, Kate has the now-famous desire for "just one more", and of course we know the rest.
The book does delve into her pregnancy quite a bit, which is interesting. She went to the hospital in March, two months before the sextuplets were born. This had to be, to use a favorite Kate word, "exhausting". She details how hard it was to be away from her girls during that time.
In a November 2008 article in Good Housekeeping magazine, Kate says, "Other families of sextuplets have both moms living right around the corner, helping them. We've had none of that." Well ... not exactly. She details in the book how helpful her mom was, visiting her daily in the hospital and giving her handfuls of index cards with Bible verses written on them. The family also lived with Kate's parents for at least a week or so after the sextuplets were born. This all leads one to wonder what happened with her parents, who are now totally out of the picture in Jon and Kate's lives. Her dad is not mentioned at all in the book.
After the babies are born and Kate can no longer stand staying at her parents', Jon makes some calls and gets approval for the to stay at the Ronald McDonald House for a few weeks. Hershey then offers them the use of a condo. This appears to be the beginning of the great good monetary fortune bestowed upon the family.
And they do need fortune, as Jon loses one job while Kate is pregnant and works at another just a month before being fired after the babies are born. We are left to wonder exactly why this is ... Kate infers that it's because the companies didn't want to pay for health insurance for the family, but who knows?
Kate later laments that volunteers helping with the babies "took a stab at (Jon's) male ego" by asking if he had yet found a job. I had to laugh at this, observing how Kate takes stabs at Jon's ego during every other sentence of their couch confessionals on the show.
Kate liberally sprinkles Bible verses throughout the book, and begins each chapter with a meaningful verse. This began to bother me. As a Christian, I love that she quotes the Bible. But, her actions speak so loudly that it's hard to hear her words after awhile.
"Can't anyone see that I'm bleeding over here?" Kate asks (figuratively bleeding, folks, not literally), as she lies in bed while a crowd of volunteers is feeding her babies in the living room. She becomes irritated as she hears the volunteers cheerily discussing things like getting pedicures and expensive haircuts.
At this point, I want to scream, "Woman! If you can just hold things together for a year or two, you'll have all the free pedicures and expensive haircuts you can handle!" And then I think, maybe this is how God feels about us when we are ungrateful and complain. I have to tell you, it was really convicting to me and makes me think twice before feeling irritated. This was one thing I took from the book.
Kate does say throughout the book that she knows she is blessed with the healthy babies, all kinds of freebies, dozens of volunteer helpers, etc. However, a statement like this is inevitably followed a page or so later with her complaining about something else. This just goes on and on, to the point where I honestly wish Kate could get some medical and/or psychological help. Surely if medicine could give her 8 healthy children, it could give her more peace of mind!
This got me to thinking about personality types. In the book, Kate comes across just like she does on the show: trying to enjoy life, but often frustrated and unhappy. This despite all the fame and fortune that has come their way. It's instructive to all of us who feel that "the grass is always greener" - if you're not happy now, you probably wouldn't be even if you had everything.
Kate also discusses having been brought up with "very stringent guidelines and rules", which she oddly seems unhappy about, since she is now such a proponent of stringent guidelines and rules for her own children. An interesting example of how we repeat what we know ...
Jon comes across as he does on the show also: helping tirelessly, seemingly the real hero of the family. Kate mentions that at night he would carry the babies to bed one by one, stopping to hold each one up to her lips for her to kiss. Although this is very sweet of Jon, it made me want to scream at Kate. Please GET UP OUT OF YOUR CHAIR and help put your own kids to bed, gosh darn it! It's very reminiscent of the many scenes in the show where Kate is parked in her plastic chair, observing but rarely getting personally involved.
The last 30 pages or so of the book take on a more hopeful tone. Realizing that they have no vehicle to transport the entire family, Jon and Kate do some research and end up purchasing a Dodge Sprinter van, which seats 10. It's refreshing to see that, at least in the early days, they did buy things for themselves. They host a big first birthday party for the sextuplets and invite 100, mainly folks who have volunteered to make their first year easier.
In August 2005, when the sextuplets are just over a year old, the Gosselins are contacted by a TV company wanting to do a one-hour documentary on their life. Kate describes how Jon was adamantly opposed to this and that she was leaning against it also, but was convinced by this line from the producers: "We do television to help people understand other people better." I can see that this would be convincing to Kate, as she always seems to feel misunderstood by others. She lists this quote, and the desire to have family memories forever captured on film, as the reasons they made the life-changing decision to do the documentary, which later led to the television series.
The book ends with Kate listing 6 lessons God has taught her through her children: God is in control (although I think it's debatable whether or not Kate fully realizes this yet), God is gracious and strong, etc.
I found myself a bit disappointed that the book ends at this point, when the sextuplets are still so small. However, as I mentioned at the outset, the Gosselins already have at least one more book ready to roll off the presses, and we have learned that where there's publicity to be had, they'll usually have it. So stay tuned for the next printed installment of the Gosselins' adventures.
August 21, 2024
What I expected
May 15, 2014
I didn't expect this to be as focused on the author's Christianity as it was. She doesn't seem to be very religious on the show at all. It was interesting to read this so long after the fact of her marriage falling apart and the television show ending. Some of what I wanted to know - like what it was like for their family once their private lives were made public on such a regular basis - wasn't elaborated on in this book. Furthermore, Kate's entitled attitude trumps any sympathy that you might have for her situation. Interestingly enough, we see how much Jon did behind the scenes in those early days - not something you'd know by how much we was berated by her on the show.
August 11, 2019
Honestly, lot more god than I thought because as a avid watcher of the reality show I didnt think she was that religious.
Read
January 25, 2023I am DEEP into a Jon and Kate rewatch at the moment, so obviously I had to read this book. It’s a fast listen, but it’s basically religious propaganda. I’ll stick to the show.
July 25, 2025
I know this is an old book but I found it interesting.
I knew bits and pieces about this family but never followed their lives closely. It’s sad that it all ended in divorce.
I knew bits and pieces about this family but never followed their lives closely. It’s sad that it all ended in divorce.
December 29, 2022
I have been interested and followed the Gosselin's story since Jon and Kate Plus 8 aired on TLC. I always thought their story was inspiring, but also a bit like watching a trainwreck. To have eight children all so young and close in age is no easy feat, and it is definitely an inspiring story for those who want to read/watch.
This book was written mostly by Kate Gosselin and is narrated by her as well. It is not the best book ever written, but it is the authentic story of Jon, Kate, and their journey of having multiple multiples.
I really enjoyed that this book starts off back in time and we get Kate's perspective of the decision for her and Jon to get pregnant. They struggled and could not conceive naturally, and she shares these heartbreaking feelings in this book.
As someone who once watched and enjoyed their show, this was a fun inside look into their lives.
This book was written mostly by Kate Gosselin and is narrated by her as well. It is not the best book ever written, but it is the authentic story of Jon, Kate, and their journey of having multiple multiples.
I really enjoyed that this book starts off back in time and we get Kate's perspective of the decision for her and Jon to get pregnant. They struggled and could not conceive naturally, and she shares these heartbreaking feelings in this book.
As someone who once watched and enjoyed their show, this was a fun inside look into their lives.
May 5, 2015
OK I have no idea how to rate this. It was exactly what I thought it would be and very entertaining so 5 stars? It had absolutely no literary or philosophical merit so 0 stars? Going in the middle with 3. Kate's personality comes right through, it was fascinating reading about her VERY intense religious beliefs which were clearly downplayed on the show. Also, the incredible amount of stress that was put on that family right from the start -- it's amazing they all made it through alive.
If you enjoyed the show you'll like the book!
If you enjoyed the show you'll like the book!
August 2, 2011
Even though their marriage is over and this is old news....it is worth the time to read the book. What she went through to get these babies here safe and healthy was a miracle. This book blessed me so much. It encouraged me. I could identify with her in many situations. Kate shares her heart in this book. She even shows you a side to Jon that is so sweet. He was very involved in raising those little babies.
January 29, 2012
Heartwarming story from Jon and Kate Gosselin regarding the tumultuous pregnancy with sextuplets and the ensuing years as the family struggled to gain footing as they cared for their eight children with the help of volunteers.
Some of it seemed a bit too fantastic to be believed, but overall the heart that this couple has for their kids comes through. Light encouraging read that moves along quickly.
Some of it seemed a bit too fantastic to be believed, but overall the heart that this couple has for their kids comes through. Light encouraging read that moves along quickly.
October 27, 2015
After watching the reality t.v.show about this family I was curious to read the book. I knew life for this family was one that was well documented by the media, but I was not aware of the amount of help they needed to get through the first year with their sextuplets. The book read more like a journal of Kate Gosselin than a story but one that shows the fears, joys, and hopes of the whole family. If you enjoyed their show you will like the book.
February 16, 2011
This book was given to me, so I decided to give it a chance. I'm not particularly a fan of Kate Gosselin, but I did find it interesting to read the details of their story. I'm certain that having twins is not nearly as challenging as having sextuplets, yet I was surprised at how much I could related to many of the things she said.
May 9, 2014
This would have actually gotten a 5 stars, just because it was so interesting, except for how I know that they have changed so drastically since writing this book. Had I not known the "ending" to their marriage and how they are now both so selfish I would have thoroughly enjoyed the book. They used to talk about God and put their family first.
June 10, 2014
Interesting read on what this family went through with all these little ones! Kate seems much changed, though, since the writing of the book. After watching her tv show, I found her thoughts in the book a bit unlike her. Still enjoyable, though, and if you enjoy learning about this family this is a read for you! :)
April 6, 2016
This was a relatively easy read but I loved it all the same. I knew a lot of what had happened already from watching the show, but I actually learned quite a few things that I didn't know from reading this. I love Jon and kate, so naturally I fell in love with this book. I will definitely be reading this again.
April 4, 2011
Jumped on the bandwagon with some people on this one. Didn't think I'd like it was shocked at how it pulled me in. Despite all the drama going on with their family, it's still a nice story. It will be a token for their kids someday.
April 25, 2011
This was a fast and inspiring book. God bless Jon & Kate. I dont think that I could of done it without going nuts. I have one child and he has me on thin ice, I could only think how I would be if I had eight. They might not be the "perfect family" but they try and that is all that counts.
April 27, 2014
Wonder if everything was as hunky dory as she makes it seem. Their life sure took a wrong turn in a couple of years. Makes me sad to think how far apart they grew so quickly if their life was really this good.
September 28, 2014
I've never watched the show and was curious about this incredible story... I just can't reconcile the concept "it's all in God's hands" with sextuplets via assisted reproduction. A lot of scripture references... And now a broken family. Sad but interesting
September 14, 2011
Nice read until she decided to turn into a diva, lol.
December 31, 2013
It was a great book. I just wish that their love had lasted
August 22, 2014
Well i really enjoyed the show and thought this book captured a good before the show story! But thats about all i have to say on it!
September 8, 2015
I read this because I was obsessed with the 8 kids and thought they were the cutest things in the world. The writing is okay.
November 30, 2020
This book was hard to accept considering the divorce and craziness that followed....
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews