TLC's Table for Twelve: The Hayes Family

Boy meets girl; they get married and have twins - check. They want more kids, and end up with sextuplets - check. No, I'm not talking about Jon and Kate Gosselin - I'm referring to Eric and Betty Hayes, stars of TLC's newest big family show Table for Twelve.

Eric and Betty Hayes live in Marlboro, New Jersey, and have been together for 19 years. Their oldest twins, Kevin and Kyle, were born May 3, 1996.

Unlike Jon and Kate, Eric and Betty went on to have another set of twins. Kieran and Meghan were born September 23, 1998.

Sextuplets!
Up to this point, the Hayes family seemed fairly ordinary - as ordinary as a family with two sets of twins could be. But, things changed September 13, 2004 when sextuplets Tara, Rachel, Rebecca, Ryan, Connor and Eric (EJ) arrived.

Enter TLC and Table for Twelve
TLC discovered the family and featured them in a one-hour special titled Twins, Twins and Sextuplets. Season 1 of their series began March 23, 2009 and season 2 on September 22, 2009.

This all may sound eerily similar to the beginnings of the Jon and Kate Plus Eight saga (fiasco? depends on who you ask), but after watching both shows, you will find it hard to find more similarities between the families.

Eric has kept his job as a police officer, in contrast to Jon Gosselin who was quick to become a professional reality TV star.

In contrast to Kate and her high heels and spa dates, Betty Hayes seems to have higher priorities than her personal appearance. In fact, when Eric sent her to a spa for her birthday during an early episode, she said that she'd never been and was really uncomfortable with the whole thing, declining most of the services offered.

While all the Gosselin kids are healthy, the Hayes's daughter Rebecca was born with cerebral palsy. But rather than seeing this as a tragedy, the whole family pitches in to help with Rebecca in a heart-warming way. Contrasting with the Gosselins' feuds within their own family, Betty Hayes's mom is often seen briefly on episodes, often coming over to help with Rebecca.

Another difference between the two families is that Eric and Betty Hayes truly seem to like each other. There is never any drama at their coffee table confessionals, never any suggestions from Betty that Eric "stop breathing so loudly" as we heard from Kate to Jon. The Hayes family truly seems grounded.

Hayes Children

The Hayes children are fun to watch, just as the Gosselin kids are. However, what strikes me about the Hayes kids is just how great they are. While they occasionally tease each other, overall they are so kind and helpful to each other (and to their parents) that I just find myself wanting to adopt one of them. It's truly a tribute to Eric and Betty Hayes that they have been able to raise so many children into what appears to be such well-adjusted human beings.

You can catch Table for Twelve on Tuesdays on TLC.