Jon & Kate Gosselin's Sextuplets Celebrate 20th Birthday Amid Family Drama

Kate Gosselin celebrated the 20th birthday of four of her sextuplets, while two others from the former reality TV show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" were absent due to ongoing family issues.

As the sextuplets from the once-popular reality TV show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" turned 20 years old, their mother, Kate Gosselin, rejoiced in their milestone with a rare photo of four of her children. However, the celebration was tinged with the absence of the other two sextuplets, Collin and Hannah, who have been living with their father, Jon Gosselin, for years.

"No more teenagers in this house! Happy 20th birthday, my forever babies!" Kate captioned the photo of Alexis, Aaden, Leah, and Joel on Instagram. "#20yearsold #ItsaPICKLE."

The absence of Collin and Hannah from the celebration serves as a stark reminder of the dramatic fallout that has plagued the Gosselin family since the dissolution of Jon and Kate's marriage in 2009. The former couple first rose to fame with their appearances on documentaries about their large family, but their popularity skyrocketed when they joined TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8."

However, their on-camera relationship crumbled, and their divorce was documented for the world to see. According to an episode of Vice's "Dark Side of the 2000s," following the split, Colin allegedly began acting out during filming, leading to his diagnosis with a behavioral disorder.

Kate subsequently sent Collin to a psychiatric hospital in Philadelphia without informing the rest of the family. Collin later claimed that his mother's decision was motivated by his efforts to expose her alleged abusive treatment of him at home.

In a 2016 interview with "Good Morning America," Kate denied the abuse allegations, calling them "absolutely" unfounded. However, Collin's claims led him to write a letter to his father for assistance in 2017.

Hannah, one of the sextuplets, eventually learned of her brother's whereabouts and requested to move in with her father. Jon was subsequently awarded full custody of Hannah and continued to fight for Collin's release from a separate psychiatric facility in Pittsburgh.

Today, Hannah has a relationship with Collin, but the other six siblings have been estranged from him since 2016. Collin has accused Kate of fostering a social barrier between himself and his siblings.

"I think my mom kind of drove a social barrier between us. She told the story one way, and obviously, I see the story a different way," Collin said in an interview with Vice.

The enduring family drama casts a shadow over the sextuplets' 20th birthday celebration, a bittersweet milestone that marks both the passage of time and the ongoing challenges within the Gosselin family.