The Untold Truth Of Sweet Home Sextuplets

TLC's Sweet Home Sextuplets follows the lives of spouses Courtney and Eric Waldrop and their nine children, which includes, of course, a set of sextuplets. According to an announcement from the network, the series was unprecedented given that cameras began following the family before the babies arrived. "Our viewers get to see exactly what it's like to experience such a life-altering moment in its entirety, going from a family of five all the way through expanding to a family of eleven," said Howard Lee, TLC's president and general manager. As TLC, the home of the once huge hit Jon and Kate Plus 8, hoped, Sweet Home Sextuplets resonated with viewers, leading the network to bring the show back for a second season in 2019. 

Loyal fans who've watched the Waldrops since the series premiere in September 2018 have witnessed the family experience a myriad of moments — both heartwarming and hectic — and yet there is still a lot to learn about this extraordinary family. Read on to discover the untold truth of Sweet Home Sextuplets. 

Sweet Home Sextuplets couple Courtney and Eric Waldrop were already parents of son Saylor when they made the decision to have a second child. According to TLC, a subsequent attempt ended in a miscarriage, leading Courtney's doctor to diagnose her with a clotting disorder that complicates pregnancy. As a result, the couple turned to fertility treatments and in early 2012, they welcomed twin boys Wales and Bridge.

In 2017, the couple decided the time was right to add a fourth child to their brood, but this time they decided to forgo medical treatment. Courtney quickly became pregnant, but once again miscarried. "It was devastating because I can get pregnant so easily, I just can't hold on to them," she told People. "It was upsetting, but we had experienced it before and I knew I had a medical issue that contributed to it."

They once again turned to their doctor, who put Courtney on a low-dose fertility treatment that was supposed to minimize the possibility of having more than two babies. That, however, didn't prove to be the case. When she ultimately became pregnant, the couple learned they were expecting not one baby, but six. 

As one might expect, coming home from the hospital with six newborns was life-changing for Sweet Home Sextuplets' Courtney and Eric Waldrop in pretty much every way imaginable. Yet, as Courtney Waldrop told Today in an interview conducted when the babies were around nine months old, her family's life had become "fun-crazy."

While those early days were unbelievably hectic, as the sextuplets got older the spouses were no less busy — albeit in an evolving sort of way. "It's a different kind of exhaustion now," said Eric of the sextuplets, who had recently started crawling. "They're doing great, even in those moments where we think we're going to lose our minds." 

Admitting he worried that raising nine children would place them in an "impossible situation," Eric said they were somehow managing to get it done. "I'm not saying it's not hard, but you just kind of adapt and make it work," he explained. "It's the new normal, how crazy it is, and I just jump right in after I come home from work and before you know it, it's midnight."

Sweet Home Sextuplets couple Eric and Courtney Waldrop revealed to Today just what it's like to feed six hungry babies — something they admitted is kind of an all-day, all-night experience. "We love every second of it but it is something, having to feed around the clock," she said.

In addition to the near-constant feeding, the couple told WAFF 48 News that in those early days they would typically burn through 70 diapers a day. Meanwhile, they also had three young boys to contend with, which were all bursting with energy. "We aren't just home with just six babies. We have three older boys. We're constantly on the go," Courtney said.

Despite how busy they are with the new six, the couple was adamant about maintaining their sons' active schedules as well. "We don't want to hold them back," she said of her three sons. "They continue to do everything they've always done, play every sport and Eric coaches them." Keeping all that going, Courtney admitted, "can be challenging. I think that's something different about us!"

When speaking with Today while promoting the first season of Sweet Home Sextuplets, Courtney Waldrop was asked to single out the most surprising thing she discovered about parenting a set of sextuplets.

The biggest surprise, she said, was that "at four months old, the babies started sleeping through the night." That unexpected bonus, Courtney admitted, was not only a "huge surprise," but something of a lifesaver for both parents. "I never would have thought that would have happened," she marveled about all six infants miraculously snoozing their way throughout the entire night. "So for the most part, we are getting a bit of sleep and we are able to survive off that."

Courtney elaborated in an interview with WHNT News 19. "Nine kids and six babies, it is definitely a challenge finding time for anything other than taking care of our kids," she said, admitting she was thankful that the babies were now sleeping straight through the night. "The good Lord knew He had to give us good sleepers or we just wouldn't survive," she joked.

When Courtney Waldrop was pregnant with her growing sextuplets, her belly swelled to extreme proportions. In order to sustain and nourish those six little humans snuggled inside her, she revealed in a Facebook post at the time, her biggest concern was "being able to take in the huge amount of calories required to keep this many babies and myself healthy."

She asked her Facebook followers to "please pray that my appetite will allow me to eat like I've never eaten before." She continued, "I'm determined I can do this!" The Sweet Home Sextuplets star's primary goal at that point, she explained, was to ensure they kept growing at the rate they had been and that she could "hold onto them long enough for them to be healthy."

That was a goal she managed to achieve, although it was close; the babies were born prematurely, about 10 weeks ahead of schedule, arriving at just 30 weeks' gestation, reported People.

In addition to the never-ending chores involved with tending to six infants while also raising three young sons, consider the costs involved in raising a family of nine. For the Waldrops, every trip to the grocery store is not only a major undertaking, it can be a huge expenditure. 

Luckily, the family's friends and people in their community stepped up and pitched in. According to the Gadsden Times, when Courtney and Eric Waldrop first announced they were expecting sextuplets back in 2017, their neighbors put together a combination 5K run and gender reveal fundraising event in order to raise money to help the family when the babies arrived.

"We've been very, very, blessed with a lot of love and support," Sweet Home Sextuplets mom Courtney told Fox 61 News of the assistance and financial help they've received from friends and neighbors in their community. "We wouldn't be here right now without all the love, support, and prayers."

While many people would jump at the opportunity to be the focus of their own television series, Eric and Courtney Waldrop were tentative when TLC approached them about letting cameras document their lives for Sweet Home Sextuplets. "When we first considered saying yes to TLC, we were VERY hesitant," Courtney shared on Facebook. "But we also knew that God did not place us on this journey for us to not share his word and what He can do in everyone's lives." 

Speaking with Today, Eric admitted that seeking fame was the last thing on their minds when they agreed to be filmed by the network. "We didn't go into this wanting to be — I don't even like the word — celebrities," he said. 

In fact, he explained the couple's actual motive was to share their faith and the gratitude they have for the blessings they felt were bestowed upon them by a higher power. "We want to show America how good God has been to us," he explained.

When schools across the country shut down in spring 2020, many parents were faced with the difficult task of having to homeschool their kids plus, of course, having their little darlings underfoot 24 hours a day. This issue was confounded in the Waldrop household, given that the Sweet Home Sextuplets couple were quarantined in a small space with nine children.

In an interview with Fox News in June 2020, Courtney said, "When school permanently closed down and the big boys come home and I still have six two-year-olds. I'm trying to do everything on top of school work. It's a lot for sure."

As her husband, Eric Waldrop, explained, the couple's faith had always helped them through even the most trying situations, and this one was no different. "If it wasn't for our faith, we wouldn't be sitting right here right now," he said. "There's no question about it."

With all those mouths to feed, it's a no-brainer that Courtney and Eric Waldrop's grocery bills are enormous; add the costs of clothing and housing nine children, and that leads to some pretty hefty monthly expenses. Yet opening their lives to Sweet Home Sextuplets has not only brought the family fame, it's also placed some much-needed money in their pockets.

How much money? That's a bit of a trade secret, as TLC typically doesn't reveal how much the stars of its reality shows are paid. However, an estimate can be determined based on info provided by reality TV producer Terence Michael, whose series have included Duck Dynasty and Auction Hunters. In an interview with E!, Michael revealed "the general rule of thumb" is to pay a family featured on a reality show approximately 10 percent of the budget for each episode.

According to E!, TLC reality series such as 18 Kids and Counting and Kate Plus 8 are budgeted at anywhere between $250,000 and $400,000 per episode. Even if Sweet Home Sextuplets' budget were to be on the low end at $100,000, the couple would still rake in $10,000 per episode.

When the new season of Sweet Home Sextuplets debuted in 2020, the family's experiences during early days of the pandemic were chronicled. In an interview with Access, Courtney and Eric Waldrop opened up about what it had been like to quarantine in a cramped mobile home with nine children. Two of the episodes, they revealed, had been "self-filmed," the only way to create content when having the usual camera crew on hand simply wasn't feasible.

While the resumption of school in the fall gave the couple a bit of a reprieve as their three older boys went back to class, they also admitted it was creating a lot of anxiety. "You know, all of those worries... you know, our kids are big in sports, our older kids, so the transition of that stopping and then starting back, and the decisions that go with that...," explained Eric.

Looking back, Courtney admitted she kind of missed those days in quarantine. Even though they "were still taking care of nine kids," she admitted that "it was just nice to not have anywhere to go, anywhere to be."