KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN

by Robert Hoffman

  KATE VERSUS THE STATE

  In 2005, while fighting to retain a free, full-time nurse to care for her children, Kate Gosselin told the State of Pennsylvania in a letter that her children were disabled. Here is that letter:

  To Whom It May Concern:

  This letter is in reference to the adverse determination as described in PA number 0433410338. (Please see enclosed letter)

  We are appealing the decision made and desire to continue services during the appeal process.

  We have eight children four years old and under. Our six youngest are 11 months old. In a sense our children (our six 11 month olds) are disabled. They cannot feed themselves, transport themselves up and down stairs or at all, bathe themselves, get a drink when they are thirsty, go to the bathroom by themselves, put themselves to bed or dress themselves.

  Furthermore, and extremely dangerously, they do not know right from wrong or safe from unsafe. They will put anything of choking hazard size in their mouths, climb up or fall down any of the 4 flights of stairs (if the gate has been left open by our 4 year olds), pinch their fingers in anything they touch and shouldn’t, pull each other down, or poke each others eyes!

  Any one person cannot safely care for and keep eight children from danger, 12 hours per day, 5 days per week!

  Take for instance bath time…How does one person have “X” number of babies in the tub, monitor the ones still in the tub while diapering and going to retrieve the next baby? Safely, that’s impossible!

  How does one person take 3 babies to the doctor, with no one to help and find a third capable person to watch the five children I’ve left behind? Each doctor’s appointment? Nearly Impossible!

  How does one person care for my six 11 month olds while effectively meeting the needs of 2 dear 4 year olds whose needs have been “put aside” all day, day after day? They have been patiently waiting their turns…which never come because one person is busily scurrying around to care for the babies needs which supersede their own!

  How does one person take 8 children for a walk? Two strollers and 2 walking 4 year olds? A “normal” thing for any child? Impossible! How does one person care for all 8 children while never leaving the house for things that are very important such as 320 diapers weekly, 13 cases of formula per month, 112 jars of baby food per week not to mention, all the “normal” necessities or preschool drop-offs or pickups! Completely impossible! Literally, we will be completely HOUSEBOUND!

  How does one person effectively evacuate eight children from 4 different rooms in the case of a fire? Or how does one person care for an injured bleeding child while 7 others are left unattended? Absolutely unsafe!

  And have we forgotten one thing? One stability in our constantly hectic, crazy lives? Continuity of care! “Community Resources”—a list of college students or high school students available “here and there” as their schedules allow, who when other things come up aren’t afraid to cancel on us – thus leaving my children to wait for lunch or my 4 year olds home form preschool for lack of transportation. “Community Resources” – elderly ladies who cannot lift one 20 lbs. baby let alone 6 and who certainly cannot do stairs while carrying one or two babies! Baths are out of the question!

  Where will I find this person to walk in, take over for minimal pay as a home health aide, who we as parents trust, who our children trust and love and who will be able to on a whim do what 9 months (with our nurse) of history has built? Exactly my point! By the time May 30 rolls around, a new person, will just be scratching the surface of learning our daily routine and handling the many time management challenges! That is all too exhausting and unworth it for me and my family!

  The past 9 months have run very safely and smoothly because of our constant caregiver, Angie. Thanks to our approval through Medicaid. Thank you! We can’t thank you enough for the amount of sanity in our crazy and unusual world, but we still need that same help now.

  I am a very capable person and mother. I pride myself in organization, cleanliness and all American fun! However, at this stage in our lives, this task is bigger than even me!

  I hate asking for help but for the safety of each of my precious children, I must ask, because I love them. I need the constant care of our nurse Angie to continue!

  The previous scenarios are things I worry and pray about constantly. I am thankful that none of them have happened and pray that our care will continue to help ensure that they won’t happen.

  Please come and spend some time in our home so you can see that what I’m telling you is true!

  If it is possible to hold our hearing in Reading, I would like to attend in person. However, I strongly desire a home visit so that a clear picture can be demonstrated.

  Sincerely,

  Kate and Jonathan Gosselin

  First, it would do Kate some good to sit down at her computer and do some research on children with disabilities to find out what it’s like for people who really have a disabled child.

  Kate’s words in this letter make her sound not just unbelievably stupid, but shockingly removed from reality. It would almost be amusing if it weren’t so truly pathetic. What Kate describes as disabilities are the characteristics of being a baby. Any baby. Every baby. No, babies can’t feed themselves or bathe themselves or dress themselves or go to the bathroom by themselves. They’re babies. That’s part of the package. Did that somehow come as a surprise to Kate? As a registered nurse, surely somewhere along the line someone must have mentioned to her that she would be responsible for taking care of those needs.

  That letter also speaks to Kate’s arrogance and sense of entitlement. It suggests that she had no intention of taking on the burden of caring for the children she actively set out to create, and expected others to do it for her.

  Never one to take no for an answer, Kate went straight to the top of the local political scene, enlisting Senator Mike O’Pake to speak to the welfare department on her behalf, when her free nurse, Angie Krall, was taken away after 9 months of waiting on Kate and the kids.

  Dear Secretary Richman:

  I have been contacted by Mr. and Mrs. Gosselin regarding their sextuplet’s Medical Assistance benefits and need for in-home childcare.

  The Gosselin family is composed of Mr. and Mrs. Gosselin, a set of 4-year old twins and 9-month old sextuplets who were born on May 10, 2003. In October 2004 the Department of Public Welfare had informed the family that they would no longer be eligible for in home care. On appeal the decision was reversed and a special exemption was provided “due to the number of babies.” Now the family has again been informed that in home services will be terminated, effective April 30, 2005. Since receiving notification, they have attempted to secure childcare through the Child Care Information Service of Berks County only to be informed that they are not eligible due to not meeting the work requirements. Mr. and Mrs. Gosselin find themselves in a quandary, as it is physically impossible for Mrs. Gosselin to be employed outside the home and care for her eight children. However, they are also unable to afford in home care on Mr. Gosselin’s income.

  In light of the above noted information I would like to respectfully request that you personally review this case so that a compassionate and just result be obtained.

  Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I will wait to hear from you.

  Sincerely,

  Michael A. O’Pake

  Senator – 11th District

  Even back in 2005, some astute observers were not buying into Kate’s sob story. In a May 2005 TRIBUNE-REVIEW article about the Gosselin family, Dimitri Vassilaros wrote of Kate’s claims that the sextuplets were disabled; that volunteers helped, but nowhere near enough; and that one mom can’t take care of six individuals. It would appear he had her number from the start. Here are excerpts from that article:

  Eight is enough

  By Dimitri Vassilaros, TRIBUNE-REVIEW

  Sunday, May 15, 2005

  Kate and Jonathan Gosselin want you to pretend that their sextuplets
are disabled.

  If you play along, they can keep the free nurse provided by Medicaid to help raise the six 1-year-olds and the Gosselins' 4-year-old twin daughters in their Berks County home. Mom and Dad will plead their case at a hearing on Thursday.

  "Every morning I ask the Lord for the strength to try to remain calm," Kate said.

  As a registered nurse, however, she knew the risks of fertility drugs. Gosselin did not regret the decision after she was told about her six babies. Nor for opposing the "selective reduction" that sometimes is performed in multi-fetal pregnancies to lessen potential risk to the mother and the surviving fetuses.

  But if Kate had had a crystal ball, would she have taken the fertility drugs?

  "If I could have looked into the future, I would not have done it," she admitted.

  The two parents have more kids than they can handle. Volunteers have helped, some, but nowhere near enough, she said. The taxpayers are helping by providing health coverage, but the Gosselins want much more.

  …But the need for special services such as a nurse is not based on income. The state's first question was whether the Gosselin children qualify medically. "The answer is 'no,' so you do not get it," Kate said.

  The little ones' good health was her bad luck. Go figure.

  "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."

  …keeping the free nurse is a priority.

  "I understand that there is no medical necessity," Kate said. "But I hope they see my need. There is nothing set up for someone in our situation. I hope I can hang on to the person that I have."

  The Gosselins called the day after my telephone interview with Kate. They asked to preview this column before publication. My editor declined their request. Kate then said she wanted to retract everything -- even though she admitted all of it was true.

  "People are out to make us look bad," she said.

  It is not surprising that Kate asked to preview the column before it was published. It is even less surprising that, after her request was denied, Kate wanted to retract everything, even though she admitted that it was all true. It is how Kate operates. She expects everyone to roll over and meet her demands.

  This was the last time Kate would give an interview where she didn’t have complete control. It was the last time she would handle an interview without a publicist there to guard her every word and control its direction. Future interviews with Kate Gosselin would be submitted to her publicist in writing. Most times, Kate wouldn’t have the chance to answer her own questions. It would be too dangerous for her “career” if she were allowed to respond on her own.

  For an interview in the Hershey Chronicle, the following questions were forwarded to Kate. She answered them and sent them back, but she still managed to mess it all up a bit and upset people with her begging.

  Q: Do you have anyone helping you take care of the babies?

  A: Currently yes, but we are losing her due to insurance denying our request to keep her (our nurse). She is our only “fulltime help”! We are currently praying for private funding to keep her! We are desperate! I will have to do this alone otherwise!

  Q: What changes are you hoping for in the future?

  A: We are still hoping for a 15-passenger van to miraculously materialize! We are still praying. The babies have been nowhere because we can’t transport our whole family in even our 2 vehicles! We are hoping to keep our nurse Angie. She is why we’re still sane and our family is doing as well as we are! We are frantically searching for a way to keep her for another year! However, we cannot afford her salary!

  I have read stories, interviewed helpers, and seen photos of what it was like inside the Gosselin home during this period of time. There were more volunteers than Kate could possibly keep busy in a lifetime. While they did all the work, Kate laid around and gave orders or posted notes and lists that only served to upset people. She spent little to no time with her children, opting instead to position herself in her kitchen while her children were out of sight being looked after by complete strangers. Kate felt that it was more important to spend the entire day in the kitchen making formula and washing and labeling bottles than to bond with her babies. So for her to state that if she lost her only “fulltime help” she would have to “do this alone” is an outrageous lie.

  And that 15-passenger van she was “hoping” and “praying” would miraculously materialize? Well, ever since she read that Bobbi McCaughey got one for free when she had her septuplets, Kate had been absolutely obsessed with getting herself one for free as well.

  SHE AND BOBBI McC

  Speaking of Bobbi McCaughey, this would be a good time to bring up some of the very strange coincidences between the Gosselin and McCaughey stories. In Kate’s world, she was every bit as deserving of the same freebies that the McCaughey family had received.

  Kate always needs to control everything. She says things like, “I had an action plan.” “I had been a planner my whole life and took great pride when my plans unfolded exactly as my detailed, scheduled list and calendar said they should.” Was one of Kate’s plans to commandeer Bobbi McCaughey’s story for herself, making a few slight alterations here and there? Decide for yourself.

  Kate Gosselin needed a public relations team to create her message. TLC wrote her blog, and the wording for her product endorsements was written for her as well. She has been accused of plagiarism in a cookbook filled with existing recipes taken from various sources. She couldn’t even come up with an original title for her own book, and ended up pilfering Multiple Blessings from Betty Rothbart, who wrote about the same subject years earlier. Given these circumstances, all evidence suggests that Kate Gosselin lifted her story and her talking points directly from Bobbi McCaughey.

  The McCaughey birth attracted significant media attention, including a feature in Time magazine in December 1997. Kate saved that issue among several other pieces of McCaughey memorabilia she had collected. Kate even spoke to Bobbi McCaughey on the phone after Kate had her sextuplets. Was she trying to get advice on how to make the most of her “miracle?”

  Here are some eerie, and some downright creepy, similarities between Bobbi McCaughey and her septuplets and Kate Gosselin, whose sextuplets were born nearly 7 years later:

  Bobbi McCaughey is a devout Christian and preacher’s daughter.

  Kate Gosselin came from a devout Christian family and is a preacher’s daughter.

  The McCaughey septuplets were conceived as a result of fertility drugs.

  The Gosselin sextuplets were conceived as a result of fertility drugs.

  OK. Nothing too unusual yet, but we’re just getting started.

  When Bobbi McCaughey found out she was carrying multiples, she declined selective reduction saying that they would “Put it in God’s hands,” and, “That just wasn’t an option. We were trusting in the Lord for the outcome.”

  When Kate Gosselin found out she was carrying multiples, she declined selective reduction saying, “The results ultimately lay in God’s hands,” and “This truly is God’s plan for us,” and “Whatever God chose to give us, we would accept as a blessing.”

  Bobbi McCaughey came out strongly against selective reduction, thus making her a hero to Christians the world over. She was also quoted as saying, “Well, come to our house, and tell me which four I shouldn’t have had!”

  Kate Gosselin matched that quote, saying, “Tell me how I as a mother would go about “selecting” which beating heart to snuff out as if it were just a candle,” and “Who lived and who died was not a decision that rested in our human hands.”

  Kate was very aware that denouncing selective reduction was the most impor
tant part of her plan to play to a Christian audience, and she took every opportunity to play that message up.

  In Multiple Blessings, she wrote about discussing selective reduction with her doctor: “I resolutely sat in the sturdy cherry wood chair of the doctor’s office. He and I went head to head as he offered facts and information, statistics and grim details of how my life would be at risk. … The risks also for my seven babies were huge and could not be denied. Assuming that the medical field was capable of getting them to a viable gestational age, usually at least twenty four weeks, they still stood the risk of suffering premature lungs, blindness, cerebral palsy and mental retardation – just to name a few. I was not swayed.”

  She also said this: “Jon, even at the risk of losing me and raising Mady and Cara on his own, unconditionally agreed with me. Who would live and who would die was not a decision that rested in our human hands.”

  In addition to their views on selective reduction, here are some more similarities between Bobbi McCaughey and Kate Gosselin.

  Bobbi McCaughey thought about becoming a nurse.

  Kate Gosselin did become a nurse.

  Bobbi McCaughey was the recipient of many generous donations, including a 5500-square-foot house, a 15-seat van, full college scholarships for her children to any state university, 2 years worth of diapers, nanny services, meal preparation, and transportation services, among other things.