I posted this on the Duggar thread floating around here, but to me there's no comparison between the Gosselins and Duggars. The Gosselin kids get more individual attention and "kid" time than the Duggar kids could ever imagine. I find it very, very strange that the boys and girls all share rooms (two rooms between 18 kids?!) and are expected to take care of and essentially raise each other while mom and dad lock themselves up in their bedroom to make more babies. It's like a cult, whereas the Gosselin house is more like a home
i could'nt feel more differently.
the gosselin's refer constantly (unless a particular child is featured in a show or is misbehaving in a show) as either "caraandmatty/thetwins", "theboys" or "thegirls"-while in their specials as well as the the new show the duggars (parents and sibs alike) refer to each child by their individual names. given-the duggars have 'the buddy system' that enlists an elder child to oversee a younger-but as compared to the gosselin's that's one on one attention vs using a paid care provider who operates in the absence of the parents on a 1 to 8 ratio. jon and kate have said they are thrilled at being able to do one 'special day' each year with each child where they are able to reccognize and appriciate their individuality (and hope to achieve that twice per year) while michelle duggar homeschools all of her children which would point to much more individualized concentration to her children's needs/talents/demands.
as for bedroom arrangements-i don't see any real difference regarding the division of the sexes- except that the gosselins choose to have one female child (of the sextuplets) sleep alone in the basement. the duggars currently have the youngest of their children sleeping in their room (the youngest is always mom's 'buddy') while the others sleep similarly divided by gender.
as someone posted before-its like comparing apples to pineapples because of the differences in the way the families operate, but for me at least, the major difference in the way the families operate is that the duggars have personal wealth (see some of the old duggar threads re walmart $$$/family wealth) and investments such that while they have chosen to have more children than i personaly believe is reasonable for 2 parents to raise they have the means to privatly provide and support them-the gosselins (and kate in particular) on the otherhand, have been very vocal in their opinions that despite being aware that one is unable to financialy provide for the number of children one gives birth to-because one can give birth to a large number of children via medical advances it is the obligation of the rest of us as taxpayers to provide for their financial needs and support.
