Jana Duggar has always been on the fringes of the Duggar family. One of the big reasons she stands out is that, unlike the rest of her siblings, she hasn't gotten married and started having kids yet, despite being (oh no!) 30 years old.
Anyway: Duggar fans are in a bit of frenzy right now. It seems that Carlin Bates, one of the stars of the reality show Bringing Up Bates, shared a video of Jana playing cards at her house. That's kind of odd to begin with, because Carlin and Jana aren't super close. Carlin is nine years younger than Jana and is closer to Jana's sister, Joy-Anna.
The reason fans are speculating about what Jana is up to is that another famous Bates was at the card game: Lawson. And now the rumor mill is rife with theories that Carlin was acting as a "chaperone" for Jana and Lawson — and that the card game was actually part of the courting process.
This isn't the first time rumors have circulated about Jana and Lawson. The two previously went to Universal Studios in Florida together, which kicked off an earlier series of courtship rumors. However, nothing really came from the time they spent together, and the rumors had mostly died down. Now it seems that they are definitely back in full force.
Eagled-eyed fans on Reddit are speculating that if Jana is courting with Lawson, it could be an opportunity for her to continue to live more on the outskirts of the family where it seems she's comfortable.
One fan wrote:
“She won’t spread her wings and get to even Jill level of away, but marrying Lawson is probably going to put Jana more directly outside of the control of Bob than any other potential pairing that any other Duggar daughters is likely to have going forward. It probably won’t trigger a great change in her beliefs but being out from under Bob would be a huge change for her in other ways and I find it hard to believe it wouldn’t be an improvement.”
But another believes there's no story here:
“Tbh I doubt there’s anything going on with Lawson and Jana, they both ‘work’ with medic corps who is ‘aiding’ in Tennessee due to the tornados. Abbie and Laura couldn’t go with Jana, so Hannie did. Still not buying a courtship, they would have been married years ago if they wanted each other.”
But others think there is TOTALLY something going on here, especially if you start looking at the social media antics from both of them:
“Jana has liked almost every.single.post. Lawson has made on social media. I creepily checked this out a few weeks ago and I was kinda like…this is weird. Honestly thought his personality seems so not of the settling down type.
“But also another theory I have is that they’ve been courting for awhile, but a bates and duggar wedding would be the most interesting of them all so j boob had to leave it for when people started to get bored to rope them back in.
“Also edit: his likes on her posts seem odd, in the beginning of her insta timeline there are more likes and comments on random stuff she posts and then more recent it’s only anything that has to do with medicorps .”
Jana Duggar has stood out from the rest of the family for years, and for followers of the family, this really intensified after she turned 30 and showed no signs of getting married and having babies. Since she's still single, she lives at home with her parents and can't move out. No one's really been clear why Jana is different from the family in this respect.
Some people theorized that Jana might be a lesbian, but she has shot down those rumors with a passion. Others have wondered if her parents aren't letting her get married because she's an important part of the household, or that she hasn't gotten married because she doesn't want to have a lot of children. For her part, Jana has said that she hasn't met the right guy and isn't interested in getting married just to do it.
Whatever the reason, a lot of fans of the family believe that now that she's 30, Jana has to get married or she never will.
The Bates family and the Duggar family have been friends for years, and many people have hoped that Jana and Lawson would eventually date. It seems that he is equally ready for a relationship. He recently wrote on Valentine's Day: "Hi, I’m late for Valentine’s Day ♂️ but it seems my girlfriend is too ♂️. FYI, your rose is wilting so pls make yourself known ASAP."
His mom chimed in from the family's official account: "Lawson, there’s just no one good enough in mom’s opinion!!!!!!"
Fans joined in, saying that he and Jana would be great together. "I just feel like he and Jana Duggar will be perfect for each other. They are both so passionate about the same things."
One fan thinks maybe Lawson and Jana know exactly what they're doing:
“It’s either them saving a Duggar Bates wedding until there’s a ratings problem or Lawson and Jana have an arrangement that every time one of their fathers brings up the fact that they aren’t married they’ve got a song and a dance where one of the younger Duggar siblings chaperones and someone from the Bates family chaperones and they show a little effort and get left alone for another three to six months.”
And another says that the two have probably at least thought about being together:
“And the Lawson – Jana band keeps playing on. This is like a three part romance series. Will they won’t they … after years of speculation. If they were non-fundie, we’d just chalk them up to being good friends. But they’re not, so the rumors continue to swirl. Bates love fanning this flame. Don’t know why. I can see Jana being the chaperone here moreso than Johannah. With that said, nothing can convince me that Jana and Lawson have not considered or acted on something more at least at some point.”
It seems that, as ever, only time will tell with these two. Hopefully, fans will get more details about what they are (or are not) up to in due course, and hopefully Jana and Lawson get the space to figure out what they each want out of life, whether it's a life together as a couple or just as friends.
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