How Long Before The Houston Mother Of Sextuplets Gets A Reality Show?

Lauren Perkins, a mother in Houston, delivered sextuplets at the Texas Children’s Hospital this week: three boys and three girls. The new family is reportedly all doing well and the parents have yet to release the names. But in our era of televised big families such as The Duggars and Jon & Kate Plus Eight, parents of multiple children clearly have lucrative opportunities to turn those little rugrats into TLC brands.

Profiting off twins, quadruplets, or even large families is hardly anything new, as one of the first times the modern world was faced with quintuplets, they famously become nothing short of a tourist attraction. The Dionne quintuplets, born in 1930s Canada, quickly became a subject of interest to the press. So much so that the Ontario government intervened, deemed their mother unfit to care for them, and place the girls under the guardianship of the doctor who delivered them.

Ontario’s government also realized that they could quickly capitalize on the public’s fascination with the quintuplets and placed them in a  compound entitled The Dafoe House and Nursey, which included an observation gallery around a playground. A reported 3 million tourists came from miles around to gawk at the little girls, all the while provided with parking and a souvenir shop.

Modern reality TV, in which large families are promoted like contemporary freak shows, doesn’t seem to be much of a departure from that 1930s nursery. And in an age when families of interest are certainly being contacted by casting agents, hoping to stretch that Dance Moms ick factor all the way to the bank, families who welcome many a child into the world are probably treated no differently. Following the national news story of these healthy sextuplets, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. and Mrs. Perkins are sitting on quite a few offers already. Whether the family makes the decision to take their kids to the tiny screen, however, speaks louder than anything else.

(photo: Hannamariah/ Shutterstock)

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