The Plath family joined TLC in 2019 with the premiere of “Welcome to Plathville.” When viewers first met Barry Plath and Kim Plath, the couple was staunch Christian conservatives who raised their children with limited access to technology and the outside world.
Now, eight seasons in, fans have watched the Plath family shift toward a more modern lifestyle. As those changes play out, their evolving relationships continue to keep viewers invested in what comes next.
With that in mind, here are five fast facts about the faces behind “Welcome to Plathville.”
1. Barry Plath and Kim Plath Share 10 Kids
While viewers of “Welcome to Plathville” have only met eight of the Plath children, Barry and Kim share 10 kids in total. The couple tied the knot in July 1997 and welcomed their oldest child, Ethan Plath, in May 1998.
In total, Barry and Kim share four sons and six daughters. The Plath brothers include: Ethan, Micah, Isaac, and Joshua. The Plath sisters include: Hosanna, Moriah, Lydia, Amber, Cassia, and Mercy.
In birth order, it goes: Ethan (1998), Hosanna (1999), Micah (2001), Moriah (2002), Lydia (2004), Isaac (2005), Joshua (2007), Amber (2009), Cassia (2011), and Mercy (2013).
2. Barry Plath and Kim Plath Lost a Son in 2008
Sadly, Barry and Kim faced a devastating loss years before the family started filming for TLC. The couple lost their youngest son, Joshua Samuel, after an accident on their Georgia farm.
Joshua was born on April 15, 2007. He passed away when he was just 17 months old, on September 19, 2008. His three younger sisters, Amber, Cassia, and Mercy, were all born after his death.
Lydia Plath sat down with Abby and Matt Howard, the hosts of “The Unplanned Podcast,” to discuss her life and upbringing. Lydia revealed that one of the hardest parts about losing her brother is “how little he was acknowledged” after his death. Lydia was just four years old when she witnessed her brother’s death.
3. Barry Plath and Kim Plath’s Oldest Daughter Has Never Been Featured on the Show
Barry and Kim’s second child and oldest daughter, Hosanna Plath Noble, was born in August 1999. Hosanna married Timothy Noble in June 2019, five months before “Welcome to Plathville” began airing on TLC. As a result, Hosanna never participated in her family’s reality show.
Unlike her famous family, Hosanna has remained deeply religious and conservative. She and her husband live in Ohio and perform as a Christian musical duo. They share four children: Joshua, Jeremiah, Eliana, and Josiah. Hosanna’s oldest son is named in honor of her younger brother, Joshua, who passed away when she was only 9 years old.
4. Barry Plath and Kim Plath Homeschooled Their Children
Along with bringing their older children up in a strict and religious household, the Plaths also chose to homeschool their kids. In the family’s early years, they prohibited television, the internet, and any consumption of mainstream entertainment.
Barry and Kim did not allow their homeschooled children to have any contact with individuals who did not share their Fundamentalist Christian beliefs. To say the Plath kids were sheltered when they began filming for “Welcome to Plathville” would be an understatement.
However, viewers have watched the older Plath children expand their worldviews in recent years. Micah Plath even moved out to California to pursue a modeling career during Season 4 of “Welcome to Plathville.”
While the three youngest Plath children, Amber, Cassia, and Mercy, are still being homeschooled, their experience is very different from that of their older siblings. The younger Plath sisters are much more exposed to the outside world, given their parents’ shift away from the Fundamentalist Christian beliefs they once held.
5. Barry Plath and Kim Plath Separated in 2022
After 25 years of marriage, Kim and Barry Plath announced their separation in Season 4 of “Welcome to Plathville.” While the couple announced their separation in June 2022, their divorce proceedings were not finalized until August 2025.
While celebrating her own divorce from Barry during Season 7, the family matriarch seemed to have a hard time finding much support for her daughter Lydia’s wedding.
Lydia married her husband, Zac Wyse, in February 2025. In the midst of her own divorce, Kim was not as supportive as Lydia would have liked. Kim questioned Lydia’s decision to marry Zac after only knowing him for six months. The Plath brothers also shared their mother’s reservations regarding Zac.
The oldest brother, Ethan Plath, had some choice words for the couple. He even called Zac’s sexuality into question and tried to persuade his younger sister out of getting married.
Rightfully so, Zac and Lydia were very hurt by her family’s actions. Lydia even told TLC cameras that she cried herself to sleep for months after the altercation because she was so hurt and upset by her family’s actions.
In a Season 8 sneak peek, Kim shared that the Plaths have moved on and accepted Zac as a son-in-law and brother-in-law. However, the family matriarch also contended that Zac and Lydia have not moved on from the situation, seemingly placing the blame on the newlyweds for the current rift in the Plath family.
Fans can see how the story unfolds on Season 8 of “Welcome to Plathville,” which premieres on Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
