Kate Gosselin 'Caged' Her Son in Institution for Years until 'Hopeless' Boy Wrote Dad a Letter to Save Him

The reality TV show, "Jon & Kate Plus 8" once beat all the ratings, as millions of viewers fell in love with it. A happy family with funny sextuplets and twins could not leave anyone indifferent. But the tale was short-lived: Jon and Kate Gosselin's solid marriage came to ruin due to cheating, and one of the kids ended up in an institution for years, begging for salvation.

Reality stars Kate Gosselin and her now ex-husband, Jon Gosselin, met in October 1997. She had just graduated from nursing school, and he was working at a hotel.

A friend of Kate's also happened to work with Jon and invited her to one of their company picnics. Kate shared she was not looking for a relationship then.

While there, she saw Jon and immediately got drawn to him. The Pennsylvania native said she needed to meet him and refused to leave before she did.

Back then, Jon had just returned from backpacking across Europe and revealed he had no clear intentions for his life then— he did not even have a career:

"I didn't have any goals, didn't want to get married, I didn't want to have kids. I wasn't even thinking about that stuff."

The pair disclosed that they were only together for a day before their courtship became serious. They tied the knot in June 1999 in what they described as a "cost-effective" wedding because they paid for it from their own pockets.

Jon and Kate exchanged wedding vows in an intimate ceremony attended by family and close friends at their pal's 1920 stone mansion.

The newlyweds, 22 and 24 years old then, went to Disney Land for their honeymoon, and it was Kate's first time on an airplane.

In starting a family, Jon and Kate went to see a fertility doctor in December 1999, and by February 2000, she fell pregnant.

She shared a clip of her holding a positive pregnancy test in March 2000 and said it resulted from their "hard work," adding it was a long-awaited pregnancy because she thought she would never conceive.

She and Jon welcomed eight kids together—twin girls Madelyn and Cara on October 8, 2000 and sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Leah, Aaden, Alexis, and Joel on May 10, 2004.

Because they are such an atypical family of twins and sextuplets, TLC approached the couple to document their lives on a show.

That was how the reality series "Kate Plus 8" came to be in 2007, and it was one of the channel's highest-rated programs ever.

However, things drastically changed two years later. In 2009, Kate and Jon announced they were getting a divorce, with 10.6 million people tuned into the show.

At the time, the father of eight stated that he and his then-estranged wife had decided to split, while Kate admitted that she was not too "fond" of the idea.

The two had been married for ten years before going their separate ways, and Jon later revealed why. He disclosed the mother of his children left him for someone else, a person who worked closely with the family on the series.

The Pennsylvania native said he knew his spouse was having an affair and had told her to "end it," but she always denied it.

Moreover, Kate being unfaithful was not the only factor in the duo's divorce. Jon revealed they were constantly at a crossroads, argued in front of the children, and could not live in harmony in their shared matrimonial home.

Meanwhile, Kate said although she did not want her family to fall apart, they had to split for the sake of their brood.

Speaking about their parenting arrangement post-separation, Kate explained their offspring would continue to live in the family home with her, as she had primary custody. Her estranged husband would also come to visit. She added:

"They love it here; this is their house. We bought this house for them, not for us."

Kate Placed Her Son in an Institution

Despite her desire to be a mom, Kate put her son Collin through a traumatizing experience when she had him admitted to two different institutions when he was only 12 years old.

Collin spent years in those facilities and marked his 13th and 14th birthdays there. He described it as a "scary place."

When asked why he was there during an interview with Entertainment Tonight in December 2022, Collin explained that his mother had an agenda for putting him there while his father was against it.

The teen, whose only focus was to get out of that institution, said Kate had him institutionalized because he had "special needs." In her part, she explained:

"You can't do anything without realizing he's missing. Collin wasn't there. Each unique child is receiving exactly what they need."

Kate further stated that something was wrong with her child and that his diagnosis had "impacted" her and the family for the longest time as she was dealing with it alone.

However, her son begged to differ, saying nothing was wrong with him, and nobody else had picked it up other than her. He eventually managed to get out of the institution after writing a heart-breaking letter to his father begging him to take him out of there, and he did. Collin had penned to his parent:

"You're my dad. My savior, please help me. I'm counting on you to get me out of here. Daddy, I love you."

"I was in a dark place, mentally. I think being in a place like that does more damage than it helps you. So, I was hopeless," he further explained.

The now 18-year-old said writing to his dad somehow gave him hope of getting out of the facility and saw his exit as a "second chance" in life.

That said, Collin finally moved in with his father and sister, Hannah, in 2018. Jon revealed he was granted temporary full custody of his son as Kate never showed up at the custody hearing.

When asked how he felt about his mother missing the hearing, Collin said it did not bother him, adding she failed to show face to at least fight for him, so his father was the last man standing in this case.

Asked how life had been for him and his sister Hannah, Collin said he would "do anything" for his sibling and adores her immensely. He revealed she had been a good support system, helped him whenever she could, and was still there for him to date.

Their dad shared he had not seen Collin for five or six years and had to learn a lot about what he went through since being institutionalized.

Jon got candid about his ongoing custody battle with Kate in a February 2020 interview. He appeared on an episode of the podcast "First Class Fatherhood" and talked about the kids' home living situation and their relationship with each other:

"I've been going to court for 12 years, so it's not an easy battle. I had a shared custody, I lost some kids, I had joint legal, I lost legal, I got legal back."

He revealed one of his daughters, Hannah, at twelve years old, had chosen to live with him instead of her mother. The TV personality had to seek legal counsel again and ended up with shared custody. He later got primary custody of her.

"I've been through nine attorneys. I've probably spent $1.3 million in court back and forth with everything else. And then I got sole custody of Collin," the doting father explained.

Jon further revealed that more of his children could be coming to live with him and their two siblings because he and Kate usually leave it up to them to decide where they want to live.

He admitted that it is a draining process, but throwing in the towel was never an option and he will keep fighting for his brood. The custody battle sees him going to court almost every month because of a few disagreements here and there.

However, Jon expressed relief that things may be easier as the children grow up since his and Kate's lawyers found common ground by proposing that the kids choose who they want to live with.

Because the former couple's children are separated, maintaining relationships has been far too difficult for them. Jon revealed Collin lost contact with his other brothers and sisters, but the situation differs for Hannah, who still keeps in touch with them. He explained:

"So, the problem right now is we have parent alienation, and we have sibling alienation. So, with the guardian ad litem, she's trying to alleviate that."

A guardian ad litem is a "third parent" who acts like the middleman whenever Kate and Jon butt heads and cannot agree. The guardian ad litem is reportedly a representative of the court and the judge who makes the final decision on behalf of the parents if they fail to find common ground.

In November 2016, Kate addressed her decision to send Collin away during her appearance on "Good Morning America." Her ex-husband had accused her of abusing their son, and she defended herself against the claims in the interview.

The mother of eight had previously disclosed that because of his "special needs," Collin had enrolled in a program that teaches "life skills" to help him overcome his "educational and social challenges."

When discussing the circumstances, Kate said she had no "choice" in the matter because doctors had recommended that she had him enrolled. She emphasized that while Collin had to go there for his own good, they kept in touch while he was there.

Meanwhile, Jon said per the court, they were not supposed to disclose such detailed information about their son. He also said Kate refused to tell him where their child was, even avoiding his text messages at some point. In September 2019, Jon claimed his ex-wife had their son "caged" at an institution and had only gone to visit him three times. He revealed Collin now has PTSD.

Collin Has Not Seen His Mom & Siblings in Years

Collin spoke frankly about his fragile relationship with his mother, saying they did not have "much of a relationship" before he was sent away.

They never worked on having one after he returned, so it fell apart further over the years. However, Collin is fortunate to have a "good" and "normal" relationship with his father. He explained they have a regular father-son relationship because they are often at loggerheads.

Sadly, Collin remains estranged from his mom and other siblings but hopes things can change. When asked what he would like to say to his mother, he said:

"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, and I'm good."

Collin said he yearns to have a relationship with his parent, saying it would be "ideal." In addition, he revealed he had not spoken to his siblings in six years and it was "tough" because he also desired to have a relationship with them.

In essence, Collins is hopeful that one day, he and his loved ones could all reunite to have dinner together and get to know each other better again. Most importantly, to catch up on the time they have lost.

Asked if there was anything he wanted to say to them, tearfully, he said he loved his brothers and sisters very much, and he knew that without their parents' interference, they only had each other. "I really hope that one day when I have kids, my kids will know their aunts and uncles," said Collin.

On the other hand, Jon revealed he too felt "alienated" because he barely communicated with his children who live with their mother, and he blames it on bad parenting. He tried sending them texts, but his kids never responded.

Jon hopes it will be easier for the children to reach out to one another when they're older. For instance, once Collin and Hannah learn to drive, they could drive to their siblings' schools to fetch them, and there is nothing their mother can do about it. "I'm hoping that will break down a lot of tension between the siblings," he expressed.