Jon and Kate Gosselin’s Sextuplets Celebrate Their 16th Birthday

The Jon & Kate Plus 8 sextuplets are 16! A lot has changed since the Gosselin children first appeared on TV screens 13 years ago, with Aaden, Collin, Joel, Alexis, Hannah and Leah Gosselin turning 16 on Sunday. Their parents, Jon and Kate Gosselin, wished them a happy birthday on social media with sweet posts.

“Happy 16th Birthday to my half a dozen ‘Hershey Kisses’, as they were called at birth! I love you so much!” Kate wrote on social media alongside a photo of the festive celebration, which included Hershey’s Kisses cereal. “You’re 6 of the sweetest things to happen to my life! Thanks for making every Mother’s Day extra memorable!”

“They requested ‘junk cereals’ for their birthday lunch (?!) so I got a bit carried away, as usual, and got them 21 different kinds!” Kate added alongside crying laughing emojis. “#Teenagers #AreFun #Sweet16 #HappyBirthdayMyBabies.”

Jon shared a heartfelt message to Hannah and Collin, who live with him, as well as his four estranged sextuplets: “Happy 16th Birthday to Hannah & Collin!!! I miss you Leah, Joel, Alexis and Aaden I hope your 16th Birthday is just as memorable!!! Love, Dad.” He captioned the post, “Happy 16th to my six wonderful kids!! Been a long road I wish all the best!!! Wow 16!!!! Love you all!!!”

Things have been strained in the Gosselin family since Jon and Kate’s 2009 split, with Jon accusing Kate of imprisoning Collin in an institution before he came to live with his father. In a Feb. 2 episode of the First Class Fatherhood podcast, Jon revealed there was still a “tumultuous” family dynamic. “There is no contact between Collin and his other siblings. There is contact between Hannah and the other siblings. So the problem right now is we have parent alienation and we have sibling alienation,” he said.

Jon explained that he would like to repair the relationships with all of his children through therapy as well as through a third legal party that would act as an additional parent to the children with direct access to the judge handling their custody issues. Jon explained, “The Guardian Ad Litem is trying to alleviate that. And I’m trying to get family therapy through Collin and Hannah’s therapist.”

“So that therapist can talk to the other siblings and try to find some common ground, because I think it’s super important,” he continued. “What my attorneys and hers decided is custody is left up to my children. So if they decide to go live with mom or they decide to go live with dad, it’s up to them.”