Jon And Kate's Twins Turned 18 - See How Much They've Changed Through The Years

Celebrity | Reality

Jon And Kate's Twins Turned 18 - See How Much They've Changed Through The Years

Jon Gosselin / Kate Gosselin - Instagram

Believe it or not, we first met the Gosselins - Jon and Kate - and their eight young children way back in 2007.

Since then the twins and sextuplets have grown up before our eyes, while the Gosselins' marriage has disintegrated.

But the feuding parents (who are still locked in a tense custody battle) put aside their differences this week to wish twins Madelyn and Cara a happy birthday.

Get Ready To Feel Old

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Madelyn (Mady, as her family calls her) and Cara are turning 18 this year.

Just months ago, Kate said she was dreading her "limited time" left with the girls, before they left for college.

In a promo for her reality show, Kate Plus 8, the mother-of-eight revealed she was pretty anxious about the day the twins would move out.

"It's the day I have feared since they were born," she said. "To think that when the little kids are in college and my house is empty? I can't fathom it."

But as Mady and Cara celebrated their birthday this week, Kate tried to keep things positive on social media.

"There are no words to describe how proud I am of you both," she wrote on Instagram.

"Despite the many turbulent times you've had to deal with so far in life, you have emerged as wise, level headed, reasonable, forgiving, loving, kind and absolutely brilliant ADULTS!"

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Jon kept it short and sweet in his own birthday message to the twins: "I love you both so very much and I wish peace, happiness and the great successes I know are coming your way!"

If the fact that the Gosselin twins are grown ups doesn't make you feel old, the fact that the sextuplets are now 14 years old might shock you.

The kids were seven and four years old, respectively, when we first met them on Jon and Kate Plus 8. But since their baby pictures were often featured on the show, it feels like we've known the Gosselins all their lives!

The Terrible Teens

While the twins are all smiles in their birthday photos, their most memorable TV moment was not a happy memory.

In a 2014 interview (when the twins were 13) Today host Savannah Guthrie couldn't get a peep out of Mady and Cara, even when Kate urged them to speak up.

Jon, already in a years-long custody battle with Kate when the interview aired, claimed it was proof that the twins were unhappy living with their mother.

"I felt really bad for Mady and Cara because I love them, and they're put in this situation," he told TMZ.

"It just kind of proves my point of Kate bringing the kids out instead of her just sort of doing it herself. It all blew up in everyone's face and I feel horrible for my children because now they're going to have to deal with the public."

But Kate simply chalked the incident up to "stage fright," and insisted she didn't hold it against the twins.

In any case, the pair redeemed themselves during a visit to The View later that year, when they spoke with host Barbara Walters about chores and their favorite musicians.

They even had a snappy answer when Jenny McCarthy asked if their parents' highly-publicized divorce was tough on them.

"I think it was harder for you, definitely" Mady told the host. "It didn't really affect me and we still saw both parents... we were little, we were like eight or nine."

They also joked about growing up in a house with six younger siblings.

"They're annoying," Mady said.

"Yeah, they're annoying," Cara added.

Taking Sides With Kate

Almost a decade after their divorce, Jon and Kate are still fighting over custody of their eight children.

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Happy 4th of July!!! 🇺🇸

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While Kate held exclusive custody of all the children for years, and Jon was only allowed to visit them, things have changed this year.

As it stands now, both twins and four of the sextuplets live with Kate. One sextuplet, Collin, lives at a special school for children with learning difficulties.

But another sextuplet, Hannah, seems to be living with Jon.

While Jon told fans that his daughter "permanently lives with me" on Instagram Live, it's still unclear if a legal decision has been made in Hannah's case.

Jon Gosselin Mady and Cara.
Mady and Cara have publicly pushed back against Jon's criticism of their mother.Jon Gosselin - Instagram

As the couple continue to duke it out in court, the one thing that's clear is their adult children, Mady and Cara, have obviously picked sides.

In 2016, at age 15, the twins defended Kate against Jon's claims that she was a controlling parent.

"I wouldn't even know what to say about him," Cara told People. But Mady was definitely not lost for words.

"He makes it seem like we're being kept from him, which is insane," she told the magazine.

"He should maybe spend some time thinking about why we don't want to see him, and maybe realize that if he ever does want a relationship with us, talking about us on TV is not the way to make that happen."

"He doesn't even know us. How can he dare to talk about us."

Let's all wish Mady and Cara a happy 18th birthday!

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