Jon and Kate: How She Conceived Octuplets

Jon and Kate Gosselin are parents to eight children and star in the popular reality tv show, “Jon and Kate Plus 8”. Through the miracles of modern science, Jon and Kate were able to become parents to a set of twins and a set of sextuplets.

Jon and Kate always knew they wanted to have children. However, Kate had reason to believe she would have trouble getting pregnant. Shortly after they were married, Kate went for testing and was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. PCOS is an endocrine disorder that affects approximately 5% of all women. It is the leading cause of infertility and is the most common hormonal disorder among women of reproductive age. It was named PCOS due to the common signs during ultrasound examinations of multiple (poly) ovarian cysts.

Women with PCOS experience many varied symptoms, including irregular, few, or absent periods, infertility resulting from chronic lack of ovulation, increased body hair, thinning hair on the top of the head, oily skin, obesity, depression and deepening of the voice.

There is not one specific treatment because each woman’s symptoms are usually very different. Regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight is generally recommended, along with medication to regulate periods, lower insulin levels and treat infertility. In Kate’s situation, it was determined that she did not ovulate at all. Jon and Kate decided to seek out fertility treatments to help Kate get pregnant.

After their initial consultation with a fertility doctor, Jon and Kate decided to try Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) right away. IUI is most commonly used for unexplained infertility, mild endometriosis and problems with ovulation. The procedure involves first taking medication to stimulate the development of multiple eggs. Next a semen specimen is taken and processed. The specimen is then placed directly into the uterus and this point, nature takes its course.

IUI is generally accepted as a reasonable initial treatment for infertility that should be utilized for a maximum of about 3-4 months in women who are ovulating. For women like Kate who have polycystic ovaries and do not ovulate regularly, they are generally given medication to help ovulate and it is not uncommon for the process to take a little bit longer.

The Gosselins’ first attempt at IUI was in January 2000 and it failed. However, on the second try in February, Kate became pregnant with their first set of children, twin girls. In 2003 Jon and Kate decided they wanted to try for one more child. In August 2003, they attempted IUI for a third time and it did not work. Finally, in October 2003 everything went perfectly and, much to their surprise, Kate became pregnant with sextuplets.

May 10, 2004 is the date the sextuplets were born, and the rest is history in the making. Jon and Kate Gosselin are parents to 8 beautiful and healthy children, 5 girls and 3 boys. Their tv show “Jon and Kate Plus 8” has become a way to document their lives and show the world the trials and tribulations of raising so many children.