This is a very long posting and lots of people will struggle to have time to read it; maybe it's worth you trying to summarise it in a paragraph, just so that you'll get more advice.

A couple of observations: -

1. You don't sound particularly commited to your PhD. You say you're catholic - but there ARE means of at least reducing the chances of pregnancy that are acceptable. Lots of people manage well with the rhythm method. While I can see that you might want to have a baby during your PhD, the fact that you got pregnant twice may well be sending out certain signals in your lab.

2. Alot of your post comes across as passive-aggressive. You strongly criticise your supervisior for pretty much everything - when on a purely objective level I don't think any supervisor is bad at everything.

3. Allegations of plagarism and the like are very serious. You urgently need to see someone at the top of your department to talk through your concerns, including those.

4. Check official regulations on whether you need publications for your PhD. They can't just bring in an 'unofficial' rule.

S

I have to say I just hope that his children (a) are left alone by the media and that (b) there is some money left to take care of them....

My husband was in your position.
The stipend is tax free irrespective of earnings for that tax year.
You may also find you've been over taxed, due to the assumption you'll be earning the same all year, and therefore will get cash back.
Remember if you're thinking about carrying on working once you're in receipt of your stipend, you will often be limited to the hours you're allowed to work.

Unlikely, it's worth emailing someone in the Department directly.

I wish we had a button we could press when these came up that would inform mods who in turn could automatically delete thread and the poster would get an automated message.... in fact I'd love to write the automated message ;)

My tuppence....

1. Set fair and realistic deadlines. Mine seems to be utterly clueless about how long certain things take, or sets silly deadlines if he's annoyed.
2. Don't say 'you tell me what you want to do next, it's your project' and then rubbish what your student says, before suggesting what you want them to do.
3. Keep on-track with what's required for reviews/ chapters/ the next stage, rather than there being a sudden panic before one of these events.
4. Don't tie up your own sense of self-worth in what your students are doing, and especially don't let them know that this is the case.

Hmm
Given you're coming into your third trimester I don't think that it's realistic for you to be writing an amazing Chapter right now; you'll be stressed and exhausted which is no good for you or baby. My concern would be that they might try and push you out before you go on maternity leave, potentially leaving you without pay or the security of having anything to go back to, so I think it's pretty urgent you either intermit or have a meeting to discuss the way forward (and I'd probably take medical evidence along).
Good luck, and I hope that you get to enjoy the rest of your pregnancy.
Sx

Incidentally, how far are you into your pregnancy?
S

Hmmm all sounds very dodgy if you ask me.
Do you get paid maternity leave?
I still think you should investigate a (retrospective?) interruption. It seems like you haven't been provided with the right level of support given you're pregnant. Are any of your supervisors female?
Sx

How many months in are you(the PhD, not the pregnancy)?
I'm a bit concerned that there might be some sexism at play here Given your difficult pregnancy, they could be in trouble for sex discrimination....
Is it possible for you to retrospectively take time out. I know up until v recently at my Institution if you provided medical evidence (which it sounds like you'll have) they'll suspend your registration for a period of months (of course, your funding body would have to agree to this).
Stress and pregnancy are really not a good combination; you need to get this sorted ASAP.
I'm concerned that they might be trying to push you out within the twelve month period during which they don't get penalised. What help have they offered you during your difficult pregnancy? Do you think you might be depressed with all this going on?
S

Silvietta - it's really good to see you considering the implications of doing a PhD in a different language. I think many people expect this won't be an issue, despite their dreadful English (which yours isn't!); so I think the very fact that you've made this post bodes well.....

I've posted before about my supervisor, who makes statements like "it's your project so you decide what to do" and then rubbishes what I say I want to do and essentially tells me I'm an idiot if I don't do as he says. Similarly, whenever I express concern about my project he treats me like an over anxious teenager, I spent the two months in the lead up to my First Year Review explaining that I was going to be ripped apart for my lack of methodology, and suggesting I work on it. He told me i was being stupid (I wasn't, I was ripped to pieces on it) proceeded to ask me whether I'd been working on my FYR presentation (six weeks in advance) I said no, he shouted at me and told me I had to do a piece of work by lunchtime the next day (which was completely impossible).
I recently found out he was leaving (uni and the country) but wants to supervise me remotely, he's put another person on board as joint second supervisor. The major issues are: (1) my supervision from him at the moment is entirely inadequate, what will it be like when he's 6 hours flight away, (2) my second supervisor has effectively no expertise in the area I'm looking at (3) my 1st supervisor keeps leading me towards 'soft' methodologies that I don't think have much 'go' because of his lack of training in the relevant area (4) my supervisor is only allowed to continue supervising me for two years. which would be fine if I submitted exactly on time, but otherwise will not be fine (highly likely given i'm planning a pregnancy!)
I've no idea what to do, I can't approach him because I fear he'll become very aggressive, the graduate tutor is away (who i've spoken to before) leaving the deputy graduate tutor to chat to. Since I found my supervisor was leaving there has been one email (no meetings) to discuss how things will proceed.

this is a UK board so you may find that we find it difficult to answer many of your Qs.
As I understand it, most PhD's in the US have a masters degree integrated (unless you already have one, on which case at least some of this taught component is dropped).
You usually apply direct to universities.
What do you mean by a fresher?
How easy depends entirely on what university you're applying to.
Research is compulsory; I'm not quite sure what you mean about "where" can you do it.

If this was ever free, it clearly isn't any more if you take a look at the university of glamorgan's website.
Sx

I think you need to stop blanket-posting for help.
While everyone on here is VERY helpful we can't help with everything. To reiterate what everyone else has said, you should try see a counsellor. Universities often have courses/ people you can talk to about essay formatting outside as well as within your department.
One of the skills of essay writing, and academia in general, is ordering what may initially seem like paradoxes. Often themes seem paradoxical when you haven't done enough reading; be honest with yourself, have you read around the topic enough? Given you seem to be working on many essays simultaneously this is likely to be an issue. Can you get any extensions?
Think of essay writing as a craft. 4-6k words isn't really a short essay. Many journals will restrict articles to around the 5k mark on topics considerably more complex than a masters essay.
You need to decide what level of knowledge you can assume and what you need to spell out.
Start by writing the main part and go back to the intro (and conclusion) when you're done....