With the publication of his new memoir, Collin Gosselin is leveling some serious accusations against his mother, Kate Gosselin.
Recalling the years his family opened their home to cameras for hit TLC reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” he also writes about a particularly painful part of his life, when he was placed in a psychiatric institution at age 12.
Page Six has published an excerpt from the book — “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood — in which he recalls his mother’s only visit during the 22 months he was institutionalized.
A Tense Visit
In the book, the 22-year-old shares his recollections of that visit a decade earlier.
After she gave him what he describes as a “stiff” hug, he recalls attempting to give her small origami creations he’d made for his seven siblings as gifts, but she refused to take them. “These gifts were my chance to remind them I existed. If she wouldn’t take those, she wasn’t going to take me,” he writes.
He continues by claiming that he made a “desperate” plea to come home, but his mother told him it “wouldn’t be appropriate” because his siblings were “doing so much better” with him out of the house.
Then, he writes, she allegedly told him, “You are here because of you,” followed by four chilling words that left him heartbroken: “You broke our family.”
Upon hearing that remark, he “started to sob,” at which point his mother announced she was leaving.
“I don’t remember saying goodbye,” he writes. “A nurse escorted me back to the pod. That was the first and last time my mom ever visited me in the institution.”
Differing Accounts
While Collin Gosselin’s memoir and its shocking allegations have been making headlines, his mother’s account of his institutionalization has been markedly different.
“My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years,” she said in a 2023 statement to People. “For the safety of myself, his brothers and sisters and for his own well-being, he was placed in a facility following years of outpatient treatment which proved insufficient for his needs. The decision to admit him was made by emergency room doctors following one of his many attacks/outbursts — this one involving his use of a weapon.”
Citing her son’s alleged “distorted perception of reality,” she went on to state, “I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help. His brothers and sisters and I have not been directly involved in his life due to his history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies towards us.”
However, her ex-husband Jon Gosselin, issued a harsh response to her statement, dismissing her claims as “callous lies” about their son.
“Regarding these brand new false accusations, it seems clear that even today after not seeing her son since the 6th grade, Kate is unable to control her abusive words towards him. Do not forget that a judge awarded temporary sole legal and physical custody of Collin to his father in 2018. Kate never even showed up to court and never spoke to Collin ever again,” he stated.
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Kate Gosselin’s Son Recalls Her Heartbreaking Words After Placing Him In a Psychiatric Institution At Age 12