19 Kids & Counting



The Duggars live in Tontitown, Arkansas, and originally appeared in several TLC and Discovery Health one-hour specials, most of which focused on four of Michelle's last five deliveries. Jim Bob Duggar has one older sister, Deanna, who occasionally appears on the show. Michelle Duggar has six siblings. The couple met in the early 1980s when Jim Bob Duggar and a fellow church member were sent for a follow-up visit after Michelle Duggar had experienced a religious conversion. Jim Bob and Michelle were married on July 21, 1984.

The Duggars elected to delay having children and practiced birth control. It was four years before Josh, their eldest, was born in 1988. They then resumed using birth control; despite precautions, they conceived again but Michelle miscarried. Michelle revealed that they had named the child Caleb despite not knowing the gender. Believing the miscarriage was due to the contraceptive, the Duggars quit using birth control. As they explained, they decided to allow God to determine the number of children they would have. Shortly thereafter, Michelle became pregnant with her first set of twins, Jana and John-David. Thereafter, Michelle has given birth approximately once every year and a half.

The Duggars are devout fundamentalist Independent Baptists. In accordance with their beliefs, they only watch what they consider to be wholesome family television on DVD, and various historical events. They have filtered Internet service. They adhere to what they consider to be standards of modesty in clothing; females wear long hair and skirts below the knees, males are short-haired and clean-shaven. They also wear modest-wear swimsuits. Instead of dating, they practice chaperoned courtship, which encompasses the couple abstaining from any physical contact. In the event of engagement, the suitor seeks permission from the young woman's father before proposing to her. The children are homeschooled using a mix of materials, including those of Switched On Schoolhouse, Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). For college studies, several of the older kids use the CollegePlus! program.

The Duggars raise their children using a buddy system, wherein an older sibling is assigned to a younger sibling and assists in the latter's primary care. According to Michelle, "They help them with their little phonics lessons and games during the day and help them practice their music lessons. They will play with them or help them pick out the color of their outfit that day and just all of those types of things." In 2004, Michelle Duggar won the "Young Mother of the Year Award" in Arkansas, which is sponsored by American Mothers Incorporated.

Jim Bob Duggar served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. He later became a real estate agent and investor. The Duggars' income is derived from the rental proceeds of the commercial properties they own. They live debt-free, which Jim Duggar has said is "the fruit of Jim Sammons' Financial Freedom Seminar" he attended years ago. (Sammons' Seminar is endorsed by IBLP.). The construction of their 7,000-square-foot (650-square- meter) house was begun by the family in 2000 when they bought the lot and ordered the frame. Discovery Networks completed it, by finding local Arkansas construction workers to donate their skills and time. The home was completed on January 20, 2006. Some of the painting, the decorating, furnishings, some of the appliances, and other finishing touches—such as a stocked pantry—were provided by Discovery Networks and corporate sponsors as part of the one-hour television special entitled 16 Children and Moving In.

A few months after the birth of their daughter, Mackynzie, Josh and Anna learned that she was pregnant with their second child, however the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.

On December 10, 2009, Michelle gave birth via emergency Caesarean section to Josie Brooklyn, three months prematurely. Michelle was rushed to the hospital for gallstones and it was there that doctors discovered she had pre-eclampsia and performed an emergency delivery. Josie weighed 1 lb, 6oz at birth. A week after the birth, Michelle reported that Josie was "doing as well as can be expected for a baby at her age. We are taking each hour as it comes." On April 6, 2010, after nearly four months in the hospital, Michelle and Jim Bob were able to take Josie to their rental in Little Rock, while they awaited the okay to take her home to Tontitown. However, on April 8, 2010, Josie Duggar was readmitted to the hospital after her vital signs dropped. Fortifiers that had been added to breast milk to help her gain weight appeared to be the cause. The Duggars were able to take Josie home to Tontitown on June 23, 2010. Michelle said Josie was doing well and weighed about nine pounds. By that December she weighed 15 lbs. 12 ounces.

The couple had discussed the possibility of having more children, with Michelle Duggar saying,

We would love more! I'm 43, almost 44 this September. I know that my mommy years are probably numbered, and I don't know how many more children God will see fit to give me. ... It is something we've been praying about because we do love children. Each child really is a gift and that doesn't mean just our children. We asked the Lord to give us a love of children the way He loves children. That is something that we've prayed about, and we'll just see what the Lord has in store for our family in the future.

On June 7, 2011, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's book The Duggars: 20 and Counting! was released. This was their second book. The first was A Love That Multiplies, released on December 2, 2008.

On November 8, 2011, Michelle Duggar and family appeared on NBC's Today Show to announce that she was expecting their 20th child. On December 8, 2011, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar revealed that she miscarried. Six days later, they held a memorial service for their unborn girl whom they named Jubilee Shalom (which means celebration and peace).

On Mackynzie's first birthday, Josh and Anna learned that they were expecting again and that the baby was a boy. The couple welcomed their second child, Michael James, on June 15, 2011. They learned that they were pregnant again in September 2012, right after the family got back from their Asian trip. During Anna's pregnancy with their third child, Josh was offered a job at Family Research Council. Marcus Anthony joined his family on June 2, 2013 under the care of a midwife at her home. On June 18, 2013, it was announced that Josh was hired to be the executive director of the Family Research Council's political action committee and that he and his family would be moving to Washington, D.C..

On September 18, 2013, it was announced that Jessa Duggar is in a courtship, with Ben Seewald, whom she met through their church, and that the couple were "enjoying getting to know each other and are recommending sermons to one another."

On March 31, 2014, Jill was announced to have been in a courting relationship with Derrick Dillard since November 2013. They were introduced by Jim Bob, who told People that "I felt like from the beginning, they had similar personalities and goals. I thought they would hit it off." They got to know each other via supervised Skype and text conversations while Derrick was serving as a missionary in Nepal, before meeting in person. After five months of courtship, it was announced on April 9, 2014 that the couple is engaged.