Photo: YouTube
They have never tasted soda.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Nov 05, 2020
TLC loves to show huge, unconventional families. From the Duggars to the polygamist Browns to the parents of quintuplets in Outdaughtered, fans of the network's reality shows can always find parents raising enormous broods for the cameras.
Their latest show that features a big family is called Welcome to Plathville, and the second season of the hit reality show premieres on TLC on Nov. 10.
Who is the Plath family?
This Georgia clan is 11 people strong and live on a 5-acre farm where they can be on their own "slice of heaven."
They limit their contact with technology and stick to more wholesome pursuits like farming and music as they raise their kids.
This is not to say they stay away from the rest of the world; the family has been touring as a Southern Gospel band for years.
The eldest daughter Hosanna even met her husband at a music event. She and pianist Timothy Noble wed and now tour as a musical duo.
Who is on the Welcome to Plathville cast?
Parents Kim and Barry described their nine kids: Ethan, 22, Hosanna, 21, Micah, 19, Moriah, 17, Lydia, 16, Isaac, 14, Amber, 11, Cassia, 9, and Mercy, 7. They live on a Georgia farm that Barry says is their refuge from the larger world.
“We’ve structured our lifestyle here so that we can retreat to our piece of heaven on earth,” he says.
Barry is a professional transportation planner and Kim is a naturopathic doctor who was a music therapy major in college.
The parents explain that daughter Hosanna no longer lives at home.
She got married earlier this year and moved to Ohio with her husband, Timothy Noble. The two are musicians and tour frequently.
Welcome to Plathville: where do they live?
The Plath family currently lives in Georgia.
How did Joshua Plath die?
Beneath the happy surface of this farm family is an unspeakable tragedy.
Kim penned an essay on the heartbreaking story about the death of their young son, Joshua in 2008.
She tells about how she was using the family's Suburban to do some work on the farm with her 17-month-old child in tow. She lost sight of him for a few moments and the unthinkable happened.
"I looked for our 17-month old Joshua, saw that he was away from the vehicle, then pulled forward to get the next tree. In a panic, I realized what had happened. I ran over our Joshua. I lived the next hour nonstop in my brain for the next 8 months."
Joshua passed away in the hospital before Barry could even make it to his side.
Kim was devastated in the wake of the tragedy. "I woke up every morning and functioned. But just barely. I wanted to die," she writes.
"I read in my Bible, 'Abel’s blood crieth to me from the ground.' The next day I read 'hands that shed innocent blood.' I stopped reading my Bible. 'Oh, God, Help me!' was all I could pray and I prayed it without ceasing. My husband was dealing with losing his son and his wife. I was gone. Checked out. Unavailable for conversations or reality. If someone said Joshua’s name I had to leave the room."
After eight months of living the worst of her grief, Kim says she found her way back to a sense of normalcy.
"Mother’s Day weekend, God healed me. I can’t explain it other than He rewrote the bad coding in my brain," she recounts.
"He took the ruts in my brain that had been running that same movie in my mind and filled them with His Spirit. The movie stopped. I wanted to live again. I was with my family again. I could hear Joshua’s name and I could talk about him again. My sweet husband, through his patience, love, and faith, got his wife back. My respect for this man soars when I think of how strong he was when I needed him most."
What religion does the Plath family practice?
The Plaths credit their religion with bringing them together and creating their large family.
On their now-deleted website, Kim said that she and Barry received a revelation that they were going to marry one another.
"In the Spring of ’97, on the exact same day, before either of us ever talked about it or showed any interest in the other," Kim recalls.
"God revealed to Barry and I that we were going to marry. We were married in July of ’97."
She doesn't explain how they actually met, though it sounds like they knew one another before being divinely inspired to get hitched.
They also make religion the centerpiece of how they raise their family and live their lives.
"Throughout we have sought God on major life decisions as well as the minor day to day choices," Kim writes. "He has taught us how to function as a family in unity. How did He teach us? Little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept, as we walk by the way."
They keep away from worldly influences.
Like a lot of extremely religious families, the Plaths steer clear of things they don't think align with their religious path. They homeschool their kids, much like other TLC fundamentalist families like the Duggar and the Bates families.
In the promo for their show, they also brag that television and the internet are strictly limited in their home. Micah, their 19-year-old son, says, “I've grown up without a TV. I don’t think I need one.”
Why a family that doesn't watch TV wants to be on TV is not explained.
Another restriction the family follows is no carbonated beverages.
Barry doesn't explain the reasoning for that, only saying, "We’ve never had any carbonated sodas around. They know what a Coke is, but they don’t know what a Coke is. Can you believe that? That is so off the wall.”
This actually isn't their first foray into a spotlight.
Much like the Willis family, the Plaths are professional musicians. Kim, who studied music herself, wanted each of the kids to learn an instrument.
They all learned classical music, but in 2013, one of the kids learned what Kim refers to as a "fiddle tune."
That led to more of the kids picking up folksy styles of music and they began performing locally at churches and nursing homes.
By 2015, they discovered Southern Gospel-style music and decided to start focusing on that. Since then, they released multiple CDs and toured full time as The Plath Family.
Kim reminds fans that the band is part of the religion, saying, "Still the heart of our band is to share with others the beautiful things God has done in our family."
They don't come without their made-for-TV drama.
Ethan's wife, Olivia, causes a bit of a shake-up in the Plath family. She's less conservative than her in-laws and has Ethan and the other kids pushing boundaries a little bit.
In one clip from the first season, Ethan takes a sip of a Coke for the first time and pronounces it "really good." In another, she gives Ethan's sister Moriah her first taste of cotton candy.
Barry and Kim seem less than pleased to have this sugar-wielding daughter-in-law upsetting the apple cart of their family.
In one clip, Olivia says, "I have a different outlook on life, and so I come into the picture and I bring in change. And it’s caused a hurricane."
Kim claps back saying, "Well, I don’t think it’s your job to parent our children.”
In other, tearful moments, Olivia tells Barry that she wants to mend their relationship, but not at the cost of changing who she is.
They actually have Instagram.
But they only have one post, and it was from many, many weeks ago. Not sure how this ties in with the whole no-technology thing, eh?
The caption on the photo reads, "Meet the Plath Family! Our band, consisting of eleven members, keeps audiences smiling and tapping their toes to our beautiful four part harmonies and variety of instruments. Usually the little ones steal the show - our four year old sings a rendition of an old time hymn that brings the house down! We love sharing our music with others, but the absolute most precious thing to us is the joy of gathering 'round a piano, and singing the harmonies that God has brought to our hearts. To stay up to date with our band and concerts, follow along to see pictures and videos of our life at home and on the road!"
However, a few of the Plath children, including Micah and Moriah Plath, have their own separate Instagram pages.
The show has received a mixed response.
Twitter has a field day with this show, even comparing the Plath family to the Duggar family. The response has been ... mixed to say, the least.
"You have to accept your kids are growing up and they are starting to resent all your rules," one fan tweeted. "You can’t keep them away from the world anymore. That door is open. You have to decide if you want your kids to visit you after they move out."
Where is the Plath family now?
There have been a few changes in the Plath family dynamic since the first season wrapped up.
Both Moriah and Micah are living on their own, out of their parents home; however, they're not the only ones to make a big move off the family farm.
Barry and Kim, the parents of the Plath kids, moved into a home "in town" in Georgia — not too far from Ethan and Olivia's home.
"It's like...0.3 miles from my house. I was like, 'Really?'" Ethan said in the season 2 trailer.
When does Welcome to Plathville season 2 premiere?
Season 2 of Welcome to Plathville premieres on November 10 on TLC at 10 p.m. ET.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on October 17, 2019 and was updated with the latest information.