by Laura W

Created on: October 25, 2009

The Gosselin children have only one fault. There are more than two of them. For that, they've become a spectacle for the world to examine, dissect, and comment on.

They are no different than the Dionne Quintuplets, who were born in 1934 in Callender, Ontario, Canada. Four months after the birth of the sisters, the Ontario government intervened and, in an unprecedented fashion, found the parents to be unfit for the quintuplets, Dr Allen Roy Dafoe, the doctor who delivered them, became their guardian and built a nine-room nursery with a public observation area in the outdoor playground, surrounded by 7-foot barbed wire. Over 3,000,000 people visited them between 1937 -1943, including celebrities such as,

Clark Gable, James Stewart, Bette Davis, James Cagney and Mae West. Amelia Earhart also visited Callander just six weeks before her ill-fated flight in 1937. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_Quintuplets#Bio graphy)

They were finally awarded back to their parents, but never got to live in any kind of relative obscurity. They were used to promote various products and appeared in four Hollywood movies. Their mother ran a concession stand and sold cups, saucers, spoons and other souvenirs baring the Quints faces. They were subjected to rigid routines for years and had limited contact with the outside world other than the tourists.

Decades later, the women spoke of the anguish, humiliation and degradation they felt as a result of being "circus freaks". They sued the Ontario government and were awarded a monetary compensation for their years of exploitation.

The Gosselin children will have to endure the same embarrassing torture, especially now in the light of their parents very public separation and divorce. The difference is that they will have footage of all of the hurtful words being thrown back and forth between Jon and Kate. They will grow up knowing their father was rumoured to be dating several different women and that their mother was a "controlling shrew".

As much as the parents insist that the children are protected from the theatrics around them, children are never immune to tense atmosphere that must surely permeate their world right now.

Today, the children may be seemingly okay with everything thinking that cameras are a part of their everyday life, but you can be sure we'll be hearing about and from these children in about 15-20 years from now.

I'm sad to know that history continues to repeat itself, this time in high definition!

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