Kate Gosselin Celebrates Son Aaden, 16, Getting His Braces Off

Kate Gosselin’s house is officially a braces-free zone! The Kate Plus 8 star celebrated a major milestone with her sextuplets when son 16-year-old son Aaden got his braces removed Tuesday. Kate marked the last of her eight kids to have their braces removed with a homemade cake featuring a smiling face made of candy and other sweet treats that would have been mostly off-limits during his orthodontic journey.

“Braces are a thing of the past in this house! FINALLY! Yay us! #LastBracesOffParty #AadenIsBracesFree,” the Kate Plus 8 star, 45, captioned a post featuring a smiley Aaden. In addition to Aaden, Kate shares 16-year-old sextuplets Hannah, Collin, Leah, Joel and Alexis and 19-year-old twin daughters Cara and Madelyn with ex-husband Jon Gosselin. Both Hannah and Collin chose to live with dad Jon last year, and appear to have little contact with their siblings.

Jon reached out to his estranged four children through Entertainment Tonight in May following their 16th birthday. “Leah, Aaden, Joel and Alexis, I love you. You’re welcome to come over, call Hannah, Collin,” he told the outlet. “I don’t know what’s holding you up.” Wishing them a happy birthday, Jon added that while he doesn’t understand the “ill will” being held against his household, he wanted to make sure the six who don’t live with him knew how much he loves them. Even if “no one likes” receiving messages through the media, he noted, “it’s kinda hard to reach out to you,” concluding, “But anyway, good luck and hopefully you call or call Hannah and you can walk to my house. It’s all good.”

Jon added that he wishes his children could “just be together” and break down the “invisible wall” that exists in their family. “They should just be able to just get together,” he told the outlet. “If they wanna go meet each other, just go ahead. But I feel like it’s more on the other side.”

In a Feb. 2 episode of the First Class Fatherhood podcast, Jon expanded on the “sibling alienation” in the family. He said this factor stemmed in part due to Kate placing Collin in a special needs facility before Jon took issue with the parenting move publicly and gained custody of his son. “What I’m waiting for is my two kids who live with me, when they drive, they have every right to drive to their siblings’ school and pick the kids up, and Kate can’t stop them,” he said. “I’m hoping that will break down a lot of tension between the siblings.”