Kim Kardashian opens up about months of silence, mental health struggles, and the complicated reality of co-parenting with one of the world’s most unpredictable figures.
Kanye West and His Children: A Relationship Defined by Absence
Few celebrity splits have played out as publicly — or as painfully — as the ongoing co-parenting saga between Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. At the center of it all are four children: North, 12, Saint, 10, Chicago, 8, and Psalm, 6, who have become unwilling witnesses to one of Hollywood’s most turbulent family dynamics.
West, who performs and operates professionally under the name Ye, made headlines recently when his eldest daughter, North, joined him onstage during his comeback concert at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. It was a rare public moment between father and child — and, notably, the only one in recent memory. He has not been photographed with his three other children in more than a year.
Kanye Blames the “Kardashian Mob” for Custody Struggles
West has been openly critical of the custody arrangement he shares with Kardashian, taking to social media on multiple occasions to air his grievances. Earlier last year, he accused Kardashian and her family network of deliberately restricting his access to his children — drawing a sharp comparison between his parenting role and the limited contact of a prison visit.
The accusations painted a picture of a father locked out. But Kardashian’s account, shared publicly months later, told a starkly different story.
Kim Says the Kids Can See Kanye “Whenever He’ll Call”
Speaking on a fall episode of Call Her Daddy, Kardashian pushed back firmly against the narrative that she was keeping the children from their father. She acknowledged, however, that there had been a significant communications gap — one that stretched across several months with no contact from West.
The children, she explained, were already familiar with their father’s unpredictable lifestyle — his international travels, shifting residences, and frequent touring. She framed the situation not as abandonment, but as a long-established pattern the family had quietly learned to navigate.
Kim Holds the Line on Co-Parenting
Kardashian was unambiguous about the division of parental responsibility: she holds primary custody and serves as the consistent, daily presence in her children’s lives. Yet she maintained that she has never obstructed the children’s relationship with West — insisting instead that she has repeatedly and actively encouraged them to spend time with their father.
She described the frustration of waking to social media accusations that she was withholding the children, calling the characterization deeply unfair. In her view, what West frames as interference is simply the lived reality of a divorce — not a conspiracy, not a kidnapping, just the ordinary, difficult mechanics of a broken household trying to function.
Kardashian also addressed the role West’s mental health plays in the ebb and flow of his presence. During stretches when he appears to be struggling, she noted, he tends to pull back from everyone — including his children. It is a pattern, she suggested, that has quietly shaped the rhythm of their co-parenting dynamic over the years.
Experts Warn of Long-Term Impact on the Kids
Child development specialists say the inconsistency in West’s presence carries real psychological risks. Dr. Yana Segal Sirotkin, a child development and parenting specialist, cautioned that children who experience sporadic contact with a parent often struggle to build secure emotional attachments. Worse, they may begin to internalize a parent’s absence as something they caused — a quiet, corrosive form of self-blame that can undermine self-esteem and complicate identity development well into adulthood.
That said, experts are careful not to paint an entirely bleak picture. Research consistently identifies protective factors capable of buffering the harm caused by an unreliable parent: a stable and emotionally available primary caregiver, a strong extended family network, and access to therapeutic support. Children, specialists note, are far more resilient than they are often given credit for.
In this case, those factors appear to be meaningfully in place. Kardashian’s steady, grounded presence — paired with the broader support system surrounding the children — may ultimately prove to be the stabilizing force they need as they grow up navigating the extraordinary pressures of their family’s very public unraveling.
Source: Hello! US
