Multiple Bles8ings - Jon & Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson

This is a guest blog post by my little sister.

Since Jack is on hiatus until he finishes his next book, I've decided to update his blog for him. One of the presents I received over the holidays was Multiple Bles8ings, by Jon and Kate Gosselin. Some of you may have seen their show while flipping channels on TV. I think that the show is entertaining. Basically, it is about a very different sort of family. They have two sets of multiple children-twins and sextuplets. There are two eight-year-olds and six four-year-olds. I began watching this show over the summer. The various tales of grocery shopping and taking day trips to amusement parks oddly fascinated me, and every Monday I recorded the new episodes on DVR. One day, I was at the local CostCo grocery shopping, and I was looking over the book section, as I usually do. I had watched the episode about Jon and Kate publicizing their new book, Multiple Bles8ings. I had wanted to read the book, and as soon as I saw it on the shelf at Costco, I put it in the cart. However, my mom didn't allow me to buy it, but then I got it on Christmas morning. The book has been on the bestseller list for quite awhile, and I heard it was well written from a few sources. I wasn't prepared for what I was about to read. From the first chapter I was entranced. I thought that their book would pretty much retell every thing that I already knew from their TV series, Jon and Kate Plus 8. I was definitely wrong. The book went into much more detail then I ever thought possible. My favorite part was the story of Kate almost adopting a little boy. Before Kate became pregnant with the sextuplets via infertility treatments, she longed for just one more child. Kate, by profession, was a nurse before she quit her job. She was monitoring a teenage girl's health before she was to have her first baby. The girl's mother did not want to adopt the baby once he was born because the father was a different race then they were. The mother begged Kate to adopt her grandson once he was born. After pondering their answer to this question for over twenty four hours, Jon and Kate declined, for fear that they would accidentally isolate the boy once he was older because he would be "different". Here is an excerpt from the text-the reasons that they want/do not want to adopt.



"Throughout the night we weighed the pros and cons. Pros-the baby would have two big sisters to spoil him, I would not have to suffer through possibly another difficult pregnancy, and we would be giving this little boy a comfortable, godly upbringing where he would always feel wanted and valued. Cons-we hadn't even thought through this situation for even a full twenty-four hours. What if, even after adopting this baby, I still felt a longing to birth my own child? Would Mady and Cara [their twins] adjust to this abrupt life-changing decision?
And then there was family. I learned later in the day that our families were less than thrilled with the possibility of us choosing this unexpected detour in our future. While not outwardly discouraging it, my mother acted as spokesperson as she encouraged us not to take one step forward with this adoption until we received a clear, concise, peace-in-our heart response from God. Jon's mother, speaking with unabashed honesty, was a bit more resistant. She adored our girls, cherishing their angelic faces and hair like shiny black corn silk. They were her blood, and by all outward appearance, that was more than obvious. Jon and I were concerned that any baby who was not our own would be forever separate, set aside, different. I was not sure if we, in this case would be acting in the child's best interest." (24)



I disagree with their beliefs in this situation. This is the choice that many families have to make that choose to adopt every year. I think that adopting a child who is different just makes them more special and different, but that makes them more interesting. This book would be an ideal purchase for anyone who is interested in the show. Adults and kids alike would enjoy the book, although some parts about the pregnancy are intensely detailed, which would confuse or bore younger kids. If you haven't seen the show before, definitely watch it before buying the book. Ultimately, I recommend this book to anyone! It is an interesting read and different than any other book!