See How Jon & Kate Gosselin's 8 Kids Have Grown Up Through the Years

Originally appeared on E! Online

After the 2006 special Surviving Sextuplets and Twins, millions of viewers gladly accepted TLC's invitation to check in more regularly with Jon Gosselin, his wife Kate Gosselin and their eight kids.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 was a strangely captivating hit upon its premiere in 2007, the how-do-they-make-it-work family dynamic being the initial draw. However, then the draw became the fact that the titular couple were not making it work, and the Gosselins' marital issues and eventual divorce in 2009 was one of the biggest can't-look-away stories of the late-aughts.

But forever joining Jon and Kate is their eight: Twins Mady and Cara, born Oct. 8, 2000, and sextuplets Alexis, Aaden, Collin, Hannah, Leah and Joel, born May 10, 2004.

The quick math you did (and then redid, because that outrageous number couldn't be right) is correct. Mady and Cara, who were 6 when the TLC show premiered, are now 23-year-old college graduates and their little siblings are 20.

And though the Gosselins haven't had their own show in years, the drama never stopped.

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The post-split series Kate Plus 8 was first canceled in 2011 and then brought back for three seasons between 2015 and 2017, though not always featuring all eight kids.

Kate, who got full legal custody of the children in the divorce, shared in August 2016 that Collin had "special needs" and was enrolled in a program away from home that was more suited to his "educational and social challenges." His absence left "a huge hole" in the family, she told People, but she and his siblings took comfort in knowing he was getting the help he needed.

During the same sit-down with the family, Mady and Cara told the publication that they had no interest in seeing their dad—but if he wanted to have a relationship with them, "talking about us on TV is not the way to make that happen."

A few months later, Jon said he had "an idea" of where Collin was but didn't know for sure, telling Entertainment Tonight he planned to ask a judge to make his ex disclose their son's location. Kate pushed back at the speculation something nefarious was occurring.

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"We're both court-ordered not to speak about the care and custody of our children in detail," she said on Good Morning America. "I have known all along where he is. The world doesn't know. And, I'll leave it at that." Jon's attorney responded in a statement that he "is a loving and caring father acting within the scope of the law to do what is best for his kids."

At the time, Jon said he hadn't seen Collin for roughly 18 months. Fast-forward a couple of years, however, and Collin and Hannah were living with him. He then told E! News in 2020 that he and the rest of the sextuplets weren't speaking.

Collin broke his silence on the ongoing rifts within the family on the July 2023 episode of Vice TV's Dark Side of the 2000s called "Jon & Kate: Family Circus," saying that he hadn't talked to any of his siblings other than Hannah since 2016.

"I think my mom kind of drove a social barrier between us," he observed. "She told them the story one way, and, obviously, I see the story a different way." But Collin was open to reconciling with everybody.

"I really, really hope one day that we can all reconnect and put the show behind us and just be siblings again," he said, "and take back that time we didn't have."

Afterwards Kate detailed her side of the story, writing on Instagram that she and Collin's siblings had not been "directly involved in his life due to his history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies." Mady also alleged on her Instagram Story, per People, that Collin had "physically threatened me and every member of my immediate family (some incidents as recent as last year)."

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Jon defended his son, telling People in a statement, "It took courage for Collin to sit down and speak about his past and the last thing I would have expected was more abuse to come his way from a sibling that hasn't seen or spoken to him since he was in sixth grade."

So, it wasn't too surprising when Kate posted a photo in honor of the sextuplets' 20th birthday this month that only featured Alexis, Aaden, Leah and Joel. It was a rare share, though, neither parent splashing the kids' pictures on social media too often.

Jon's most recent family pics of himself with Hannah and Colin were taken at their high school graduation last spring.

Incidentally, Kate was also there, but the exes did not mingle.

"Hannah invited Kate," Jon explained to People, "and we saw each other, but there was a whole football field between us."

During a May 12 Instagram Live session from "somewhere in South Carolina" in between DJ gigs, Jon noted, "I can't believe they're 20...I wished all my kids happy birthday publicly."

Seeing the six, let alone all eight, all-grown-up Gosselin kids together again would indeed be a momentous event. But while they're busy doing their own thing, keep reading to see the siblings' transformation through the years:

Sextuplets' 20th Birthday

Hannah's Birthday Post

Hannah the Graduate

High School Graduates

Girls' Trip

All Grown-Up

Birthday Bash

Back to Class

Birthday Greetings

Girl Power

Growing Up Gosselin

Greetings From Alaska

Girls Trip

Happy Holidays

Camera Ready

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