Kate Gosselin and her son Collin have been through their fair share of ups and downs over the years.
The Kate Plus Date star welcomed Collin and his sextuplet siblings — Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Leah and Joel — in 2004 with her now-ex-husband, Jon Gosselin. The little ones joined twins Madelyn and Cara, who arrived four years earlier.
The reality stars, who tied the knot in 1999, called it quits a decade after their nuptials. While the former couple were granted shared physical custody of their kids, Kate received legal custody of all eight children. (Per The Center for Family Law, legal custody “refers to the rights and the obligation to make decisions about a child,” while physical custody “refers to which parent the child is physically with at any given time.”)
In 2016, she revealed that she had sent Collin to Fairmont Behavioral Health Institute for behavioral issues. (Jon later told the Daily Mail: “Other than ADHD, which is extremely common, Collin has never been diagnosed with any known medical condition.”) In 2018, Jon had the teenager removed from the facility. Collin and Hannah now live with their dad.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at Kate and Collin’s relationship over the years, from handwritten letters to shady Mother’s Day messages:
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December 2009
The Multiple Blessings author was granted full legal custody of Collin and his siblings in 2009. She “will continue to reside with all eight of her children in the former marital home,” her lawyer told Us Weekly at the time.
Courtesy Jon Gosselin/Instagram
November 2016
When Kate revealed her son was in a special needs institution, her ex’s lawyer told Us, “The whole story is not being told.”
Courtesy Jon Gosselin/Instagram
November 2018
Jon and Hannah visited Collin at the Fairmont Behavioral Health Institute, the same month that the DJ filed for full physical and legal custody of his son.
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December 2018
Jon was granted sole physical and legal custody when Kate did not show up to court. The Eight Little Faces author had asked a day earlier for the court date to be postponed, but her request was denied.
Courtesy Jon Gosselin/Instagram
February 2020
“Kate has no contact with [Collin],” Jon revealed in a “First Class Fatherhood” podcast episode. “Right now, it’s very tumultuous pretty much because there’s no contact between Collin and his other siblings. There’s contact between Hannah and the other siblings, [but not with Collin]. We have parent alienation and sibling alienation.”
Courtesy Jon Gosselin/Instagram
September 2019
Collin’s dad opened up to DailyMailTV about the teen being “caged” in the treatment center for three “inhumane” years.
Jon shared an alleged letter his son had written him. “Dear Dad, I’m not trying to trick you, but I still love you,” the note read. “I told Mom I want to live with you, she said no. But right? She can’t choose for me. I’m old enough now, I’m YOUR son, not hers. She was abusive to me after I left your house. I’m sorry. Take this to court because … you’re my dad, my savior. … Please help me and let me meet Colleen [Conrad, Jon’s girlfriend]. I’m counting on you to get me out of here. Daddy, I love you. save me. Please come FAST. I love you. Help me. BYE.”
Shutterstock; Courtesy Jon Gosselin/Instagram
May 2020
Collin appeared to shade his mom by writing a Mother’s Day message to only Conrad via Instagram. “Turns out today is Mother’s Day, today we pay love forward to our mothers, but I don’t think mother can describe all the things Colleen has done for me,” he wrote. “Yes a mother clothes her children and cooks for them but it’s the best feeling when your mother or mother figure is one of your best friends and always has your back, the one who always shares that laugh of the humor only you guys get.”
The teenager added, “I could call it Mother’s Day, but it’s more than that, Colleen, you are so much more than a mother to me, you are one of my guidelines and one of my guiding lights. Thank you doesn’t say enough, I love you so much and you’ve done so much for me that claims you my strong, happy, loving and awesome mother figure, you’re irreplaceable. Thank you so much Colleen love you so much!!!”
Shutterstock; Courtesy Jon Gosselin/Instagram
May 2020
Kate penned a social media tribute to her sextuplets that same day, captioning her Instagram post: “Happy 16th Birthday to my half a dozen ‘Hershey Kisses’, as they were called at birth! I love you so much! You’re 6 of the sweetest things to happen to my life!”
Courtesy Collin Gosselin/Instagram
September 2020
Kate stepped in when Collin accused Jon of abuse in a since-deleted Instagram post in September 2020. “You do not punch and kick your children,” she told People magazine at the time. “You do not kick a child. I don’t want to hear any excuses from anyone, not from his father, not from local law enforcement, not from court personnel whose job is supposedly to ensure the best interests of my children. There is a child abuse law, PA 23, section 8i states that doing any of the following, regardless of whether it causes injury, is child abuse, and first on that list is kicking. Period.”
The Berks County Children & Youth Services subsequently launched an investigation into Jon. District Attorney John Adams told Us at the time that no charges had been filed against Jon.
Courtesy of Jon Gosselin/Instagram ; Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
November 2022
During a rare interview, Collin discussed how his time at Fairmont Behavioral Health Institute ended his bond with his mother. “After being there, I didn’t have a relationship with her,” he recalled to Entertainment Tonight. “Even before [being] there, I don’t think we had much of a relationship and I think that just kept tearing it even more down.”
At the time, Collin didn’t rule out a potential reconciliation, adding, “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a relationship. I think every son wants to have a relationship with their mom. But I’m doing very well.”
Courtesy of Collin Gosselin/Instagram
June 2023
After graduating from high school, Collin gave special shout-outs to specific family members — but did not mention mom Kate.
“I want to first thank my amazing sister, Hannah, for standing by me and supporting me, she is my number 1,” Collin wrote in his Instagram post. “I would like to thank my dad, who has taught me so much about running into hard times and moving past them, about resilience. Thank you dad for always supporting my decisions, and having my back when I bite off more than I can chew.” He also thanked Jon’s ex-girlfriend Colleen Conrad.
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July 2023
Collin and Hannah were interviewed for Vice TV’s Dark Side of the 2000s, in which they spoke about how Collin was “separated” from the rest of his siblings while growing up.
“I know my mother was going through a lot of things. I mean, a divorce, and plenty of different things that can’t be easy to go through,” Collin said. “And, you know, I want to think that she needed someone to take out her anger and frustration on, and it was just kind of me. I was in the way and I was there. So, she chose me.”
Hannah elaborated: “He would not get to come outside and play with us. He would eat dinner at different times than us.” She noted: “I don’t think effort was made in the home to help him learn what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not acceptable.”
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery; Vice TV
September 2024
Collin spoke out about the alleged abuse he faced from Kate. In a bombshell interview with The U.S. Sun, Collin claimed that Kate built him a room in their basement when he was a kid. According to Collin, the room could be bolt-locked from the outside and had cameras plus a small window.
“So this, it was like a containment room, literally, and it had a mattress on the floor and that’s how I lived,” he alleged. “And I was there, you know, most of the day because I didn’t go to school after a certain point.”
Collin also claimed that his mother was “physically aggressive” and “verbally” abusive towards him. He accused Kate of zip-tying him and locking him in the room. Kate did not address the allegations. However, her lawyer Richard Puleo told the outlet that he didn’t believe Kate would do anything to “intentionally harm” Collin, who allegedly exhibited “troubled behavior.
Kate Gosselin/TikTok
August 2025
Collin took to TikTok to share a throwback photo of himself and his seven siblings, as well as a current selfie and a message about being torn apart.
“Born to be a team, us against the world,” he wrote over the post. “Forced to do it alone, and wonder every day what our lives could’ve looked like.”
In the caption, Collin added a message for his siblings.
“Forced apart, pitted against each other. All the fame and money in the world, but what about kids being kids?” he wrote. “I will always love them more than anything. The tears I shed behind closed doors, thinking about the memories we could’ve shared. I love you guys.”
Days later, a fan took to the comments section of a video on Kate’s TikTok account to share a screenshot from Collin’s video, which received a response from the former reality star turned nurse.
“He knows why,” Kate wrote with a crying emoji.
Source:: Entertainment – usweekly moms
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