Monetizing Your Kids? – The Byler Sextuplets

Tuesday, September 4, 2007 12:48

Posted in category Preemies

I’m all for making money, but some recent articles I’ve read online since the birth of the Byler sextuplets have left me wondering where the line is. According to an article on the Byler family on TBO.com, Ben Byler acknowledged the fact that the family had signed an exclusivity contract with Inside Edition. Browsing around on the web, I’ve found reports that this contract was worth $10,000 to $12,000 to the Byler family. Now, I have no proof of the dollar amount, but I do have mixed feelings about profiting in this way off the birth of your children.

On one hand, it seems completely reasonable considering the position the Bylers are in. The Bylers have bills to pay, and Inside Edition is a business, which is free (within reason) to pay for things it feels are good for business. Many people have complained about the requests for donations which have gone out from other families having sextuplets this year, so perhaps we should all just be glad that Inside Edition opened their pocket books and both sides are benefiting.

On the other hand, it seems a little wrong to profit off your newborn babies like this. It’s one thing if your child has some sort of talent, and earns money which you manage for them. But money just for video clips. . . I guess I’m just not sure. It probably all depends on where they draw the line. This may very well turn out to be the end of the money making story for the Bylers, but it also brings to mind the Dionne quintuplets, who spent much of their childhood earning money doing ads and being put on display simply because there were five of them.

What do you think??

5 Responses to “Monetizing Your Kids? – The Byler Sextuplets”

Michelle Gartner says:

September 4th, 2007 at 10:46 pm

I read about the Dionne Quints in a rather fun college course about the Great Depression. It was a long time ago, but I don’t really see the comparison. My recollection was that the Canadian government took guardianship of those little girls and then profited it off them. It was really really sad.

Being an accountant and a Mom of almost 5 kids, I would have to say if the Byler’s signed an exclusive contract with Inside Edition, they are none too bright. I don’t mean this in a mean way- either. I am sure they could have gotten more money and funner perks then being on the one show. They probably could have done Pampers spots, and half a dozen other commercials for more money. Considering the “extreme” cost involved in raising large broods especially all at once in these overnight big families- I don’t see anything wrong with trying to get help. A couple of commercial spots is much better then trying to slog around on state and community assistance and hoping to get by. The money issues seem daunting enough, but the sleep factors are what get me thinking when I think about these huge families of newborns.
Kristie says:

September 5th, 2007 at 11:47 am

The comparison is that someone used them to make money, just because they were multiples. It was mostly Canada doing it in their case, and it was very sad, but their parents also ran a souvenir stand…

I agree that I’d rather have them earn their own cash than go around expecting donations. That’s why I’m torn.
Suzel says:

September 11th, 2007 at 9:47 pm

I know Karoline personally and they did not monetize their children. The expenses with caring for six babies is out of the stratosphere. What they did was take advantage of a company that was offering financial support for their story. And by “advantage” I don’t mean that in a negative way. Even locally there was little media coverage to ask the community for help, mostly due to the sad out come of recently born multiples. The financial amount they received is helpful, however very little compared to celebrities, who are already very wealthy, yet sell the rights to their children’s photos and stories for million plus dollars. Let’s pray for this family for good health for the babies and that they may receive the support from the community that is much needed.
Andy Richter says:

November 3rd, 2007 at 11:27 am

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Andy Richter says:

November 25th, 2007 at 8:31 pm

Hi…Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts..what a nice Sunday