ST Kate Gosselin Says a Seventh Heartbeat Was Detected Early—And Shares the Name She Chose
ST Kate Gosselin Says a Seventh Heartbeat Was Detected Early—And Shares the Name She Chose ST
Kate Gosselin is revisiting a wrenching moment from 2004, saying an early scan during her sextuplet pregnancy briefly showed seven heartbeats.
In a six-part TikTok series posted between August 19 and Sunday, the Kate Plus Eight alum, 50, recounts her infertility journey, the precarious early weeks of a high-order pregnancy, and the births that made her a mother of eight. In the viral fourth installment, she recalls a six-week ultrasound where clinicians counted seven heartbeats; a week later, one embryo had stopped developing.
Later, after a bleeding scare, she feared she’d lost them all—until the technician quietly said, “I see six heartbeats.” From that point, Gosselin says, she was determined to fight for their survival, a testament to how deeply she already loved them. In TikTok comments, she added that she believes the embryo that didn’t continue was a girl and that she would have named her Emma.
Diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), Gosselin conceived all of her children through fertility treatment, including intrauterine insemination (IUI). The sextuplets—Aaden, Alexis, Joel, Leah, Hannah, and Collin—are now 21, most currently in college. Her twins with ex-husband Jon, Mady and Cara, turn 25 on October 8; Mady, a Syracuse grad, works in sales at DECIEM, while Cara, a Fordham alum, is a leasing credit officer at Bank of America.
Gosselin remains estranged from Collin, who has accused her of abuse and said she derailed his plan to join the U.S. Marines. He is in college, works as a resident assistant and waiter, recently started a small business, and plans to write a book.
After rising to fame on Jon & Kate Plus 8 (2007–2010) and continuing with Kate Plus 8 through 2017—with a 2019 special—Gosselin stepped away from TV. She has since worked 12-hour shifts as a pediatric nurse in North Carolina, briefly appeared on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test in 2023 before a neck injury forced her exit, authored three books, and turned up on Dancing With the Stars, Celebrity Wife Swap, The Apprentice, and The View.
Now, through TikTok, she’s reflecting on both the miracle and the grief that shaped her family—celebrating the six who made it to birth and the seventh she still holds in her heart.
