For the past four years, we’ve gotten a glimpse into the lives of the 7 Little Johnstons, on their quest to pursue the American dream.
The wholesome TLC series first hit our screens in 2015, and each week we see Trent and Amber Johnston trying to maneuver life with their five kids, Elizabeth, Alex, Emma, Jonah, and Anna.
The Johnstons approach life in a different way since they were all born with the same genetic condition, Achondroplasia Dwarfism – which accounts for their small stature.
Where is the show filmed?
The family lives and works in rural Forsyth, Georgia, which is also where the TLC show is filmed.
Dad, Trent, works as a ground supervisor at a college in Forsyth while Amber is a full-time mom.
The self-proclaimed “real-life seven dwarfs” are reportedly the largest family in the world living with Achondroplasia.
Trent and Amber had two children by natural birth
However, after complications with both Elizabeth and Jonah, they decided to explore adoption.
“Our family was created not only by birth but also by adoption, and Trent and I are extremely proud of that.”
The Johnstons adopted Anna from Russia, Emma from China, and Alex from South Korea.
Trent explains the adoption process, noting that it was different for each child.
“All three of our kids’ stories are different. We traveled to Russia — we were in Russia for 16 days when we got Anna. We did not travel to South Korea, we were able to hire an escort service to bring Alex to us, and we did travel to China to pick up Emma.”
The Johnstons have been very transparent about their real-life struggles, and their authenticity might be why they still have a large audience for the family-oriented show.
The family tells Good Housekeeping, “Being able to show some of our struggles will be relatable to viewers because it’s not just that we’re struggling because we’re 4 feet tall; we’re struggling to raise teenagers or in our marriage, they are things that everybody can relate to, no matter what.”
The mom-of-five also makes it clear that perfection is not what they are striving for, and that they have issues raising their kids much like other parents out there.
“We won’t make the right decisions all the time, or the kids aren’t always on their best behavior,” Amber says. “We’re first time parents like everybody else.
“Just because we’re little people and happen to have little people children doesn’t automatically make us folks that know everything about our kids.”
Season seven of 7 Little Johnstons airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on TLC.
I thought Trent quit his job at the community college and Amber was selling real estate. Are they both still working those jobs?