Millions of Americans watch the hit reality TV series “Jon & Kate Plus 8” on TLC. 

They are now following Katie Irene Gosselin and Jonathan Keith Gosselin into a fifth season of parenting their eight children — fraternal twin girls and a set of fraternal sextuplets.

The show is taped in the Gosselin home — the “set” includes permanent light fixtures.

Lately, the drama has focused on whether Jon did or did not cheat on Kate with either of two women spotted with him over Memorial Day weekend and, more recently, at a mall.  He insists the women are the wife and daughter of plastic surgeon Dr. Larry Glassman who performed Kate’s tummy tuck surgery.

I don’t really care whether Jon has been faithful to Kate or not.  My question about him and his wife is about how they can justify turning  their kids’ lives into entertainment, with unknown, possibly severe, psychological fallout.

No one knows the precise psychological impact of having parents who are “acting” like parents for the cameras or having producers around who are hoping for high drama, but the impact could be significant and negative.  Life has to stay interesting to keep viewers around, after all. Decisions about how to handle family crises, including the question of whether to stay a couple at all, might well be colored by  worries about how it all will play out on TV.

Kate Gosselin recently went on a vacation with her eight kids to North Carolina. They were accompanied by body guards and camera crews.

This is like having a stage mother (and father) on steroids.  Because in this case, she’s on stage, too.  How does one of the children decide to drop out of the series?  If he or she did, would that child risk losing parental attention and love?  Who has the moral right to decide that another human being’s life story will be played for television audiences?

Movie stars and politicians often have enough good sense to understand — as good parents — that they need to protect their children from the glare of bright lights and media exposure.  They understand that their own notoriety shouldn’t be a ball-and-chain for their kids.  They don’t want their sons and daughters defined by them.  They want them to have their own lives — for real.

I hope that each and every one of the Gosselin children grows up to be happy and healthy. But if they should end up depressed or on drugs, I hope they find therapists who will explore whether part of their pain is a feeling that their lives were stolen from them, whether they were put on display like zoo animals under glass, all for fame and profit.

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s Web site at livingthetruth.com.

In some cultures, as soon as a baby is born, the father whispers a message into the child’s ears. I’ve seen it done with some of the babies I’ve delivered, and while I never ask what was said, I’m sure it’s a massage of hope and love.

I don’t know if my father did anything like that when I was born, but he did make sure to tell me early on in my life, that America was the land of hope and opportunity. And I believe that it was then, and it always will be.

I know that for many people right now this seems like a difficult concept to believe in, but for some of us, today’s troubles are the challenges that will continue to make our future great.

The stresses that most Americans are experiencing right now are overwhelming. I see it in my own practice — unfortunately these days it seems even the joy of a new baby is sometimes overshadowed by the financial strain of a growing family.  I tell some of my patients that are dealing with these feelings of anxiety to reflect on their past and see how America has always been there for them.

It’s human nature to survive, and throughout history, we have seen people survive through much worse conditions than we are in today. This isn’t the first time a nation has faced hardship, and history has shown us that even at the lowest points, through two world wars, depressions, the Holocaust, famine and terrorism, just to name a few, the human spirit has prevailed. And today, we as Americans will not surrender.

As a kid, I grew up in a communist dictatorship where our survival was predicated on dealing with a black market economy. My father came to America with just a coat and $150 in his pocket. America made him a new man and allowed him to work hard and build up his family. He stopped thinking about the worst-case scenario, and focused on making an honest living.

America will never fail — just look back in our history. The world has seen many terrible things. But rather than surrendering to your worries about the present, think of the past and remember the words of Winston Churchill, who in his most desperate moments, rallied those around him, by saying “We will fight in the hills, we will never surrender.”