The Duggar family has long fascinated the world around them with their commitment to the religious upbringing of their ever-growing family.
The public first met Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar back in 2004 in their special 14 Kids and Pregnant Again! Fast-forward 17 years, and the family has grown quite a bit. Not only are there 19 Duggar children now, but many of them have married and started families of their own. There are now 49 people in the extended Duggar family when you count the spouses of the kids and the Duggar grandchildren.
With that enormous of a family, there's always a lot going on. The Duggars are almost always in the news, but it's hard to keep up with so many people in the family. Chances are, you've missed a few of the strange facts and rumors out there about the Duggar family. Allow us to catch you up.
There's something up with Jana.
Jana Duggar is the oldest Duggar daughter. Unlike many of her younger sisters, the 31-year-old twin of John David is still single. There have been many rumors about why that is, from the fact that the family needs her too much to help with the younger siblings to questions about her sexuality and interest in having children.
They're all homeschooled.
Every member of the Duggar family has been homeschooled. As the older kids got to a certain age, they began helping with the homeschooling of their younger siblings.
"Bible says to train up your children when you get up in the morning, when you sit down, walk by the way, and when you go to bed at night … and we really felt like in order to … fulfill that command, we really wanted to home school our children," Jim Bob told KLTV.
Anna thought about leaving Josh after the scandal.
Many might recall that a sexual assault scandal involving Josh Duggar, four of his sisters, and other individuals led to the end of 19 Kids and Counting and ushered in the Counting On series. It was largely rumored that Anna considered divorcing Josh during this period. Duggar fans have theorized that she didn't leave because Jim Bob and Michelle vowed to help Josh get the kids if she did.
Michelle has spent 12 years being pregnant.
Altogether, Michelle has spent 12 years, or 144 months, pregnant. There are 22 years between the oldest, Josh, and youngest, Josie. Michelle has given birth 17 times, averaging a baby every 15 months.
Boy siblings don't mingle much with girl siblings.
The Duggars believe boys should spend their time with boys and girls should spend their time with girls. A photo of their family game night caught fans' attention when it showed the boys playing one game of Monopoly and the girls playing another.
Some say James isn't Jim Bob and Michelle's child.
A fan theory has begun circulating that James Duggar isn't Jim Bob and Michelle's biological son. Fans believe the couple adopted James from cousin Amy, who would have given birth at 14 for the theory to be plausible. While Amy didn't grow up by the same religious guidelines, there's no indication she was pregnant during her teen years. Fans can't shake the idea that James looks more like Amy than any other Duggar.
Jessa and Ben may have gotten handsy after exchanging vows.
Following Jessa Duggar's 2014 wedding to Ben Seewald, internet rumors began suggesting the couple had trouble following the rules of courtship. Not only were there stories about them being caught alone together by many family members, but some rumors about the wedding day itself came out. Sources said that Ben and Jessa may have started hooking up before they even left the church.
"Multiple people were discussing that when Jinger opened the door to get Jess for the reception, she immediately closed the door with a look of shock on her face. A big group of the girls were waiting outside the room to walk with her out … and my own daughters saw as well."
The family does a lot of laundry.
At its worst, the Duggar family was doing about 40 loads of laundry a day, with four washer/dryers in the family home. With 12 of the family's 21 members still living at home, that number has likely gone down a bit, but it's still a chore you hope you're not doing for everyone.
Derick Dillard might write a tell-all book.
Jill Dillard and husband Derick left Counting On in 2017. They also decided to start distancing themselves from the family at that time. In recent years, the couple has made comments insinuating they don't agree with the Duggar lifestyle.
Derick has decided to write a book detailing his experience dating and marrying Jill, he revealed to The Sun.
"Although the book will be inspired by our own journey, the goal is for it to be relatable, in that it will examine themes that have haunted people for ages," he told the outlet. "Our story is difficult but it is not unique."
Jill and Jessa might be coming out with a documentary.
Sources tell OK! Magazine that Jessa and Jill have been in talks about making a docuseries about their upbringing.
"It'll reveal everything on how they're raising strong, independent kids to how they plan to defy family convention by adopting next," the source says.
"They'll also spill details of how it was like growing up in the Duggar world and all the rules they had to live by. Jim Bob would be furious if he knew what the girls were plotting."
Jed is breaking a rule with his alleged fiancée.
Rumors of Jedidiah Duggar's engagement have been all but confirmed after some sleuthing fans discovered a wedding registry, listing the wedding date as April 3, 2021. Fans have wondered why the Duggars haven't announced the engagement to Katey Nakatsu, and they think they have the answer.
It appears Katey's parents are divorced, which would make Jed the first Duggar to marry the child of a divorced couple. The family has strong feelings about divorce due to their religious beliefs.
Josiah was one of the most defiant kids.
Josiah has been one of the more controversial members of the family. He had a failed courtship before settling down with Lauren Swanson in 2018. Josiah reportedly was the one who most defied the Duggar rules as a teen, making Jim Bob desperate for him to marry. There's allegedly only one thing that keeps Josiah in the family business.
"Josiah has stuck with his dad only for the money. It's all about money for Josiah. He's crazy as a ran-over dog," a source who was formerly employed by the family told The Hollywood Gossip.
John David decided he was too old to follow the courtship rules.
John David's courtship with Abbie Burnett looked very different from many of the Duggar courtships. He explained that he and Abbie, who were 28 and 26 when they announced their courtship, decided they were too old for some of the rules.
"We chose to be able to have some contact versus no contact," he told cameras.
"We felt like it is appropriate with where we are in this stage of life. We are about 10 years older than most of [my] siblings when they start a courtship, so it feels like we are a little further down the road when it comes to maturity in some areas."
There's speculation Josie has health problems.
Josie Duggar is the 19th of the 19 Duggar kids. She was born prematurely and had some struggles in the beginning, but the Duggars have asserted she's been fine since. However, evidence in various appearances have led some to believe Josie may have sensory issues.
More recently, people have commented the 11-year-old looks sickly. There's no official word of anything, however.
Newlyweds Justin and Claire are living in a mobile home.
Justin and Claire just surprised many Duggar family fans by tying the knot. The 18-year-old Duggar proposed to his 20-year-old sweetheart in November, with them exchanging vows in late February 2021. As for where the newlyweds are living, Jim Bob reportedly sold Justin a mobile home for $1.
"It will also come in handy when they start working on a family of their own," an insider told In Touch Weekly.
Jana and Jeremiah may be courting siblings.
A double Duggar wedding? It's not beyond the realm of possibility. Rumors indicate that Jana Duggar is courting Stephen Wissmann, who has 12 siblings. These rumors also allege that Jeremiah Duggar is spending time with one of Stephen's younger sisters, Hannah Wissmann.
Duggar moms have been slammed for 'blanket training.'
A lot of the parenting methods that the Duggars pass along have been questioned in the time since the show got popular. One of the more controversial ones that has been seen being used by the older kids with their own children is "blanket training."
The idea of blanket training is to keep your child occupied with one or two toys while sitting still in one area. When the child moves off the blanket during the training aspect, they're typically punished corporally. In Michelle's case, she's commented that she uses a ruler, which is understandably very controversial.
They have a family-wide safe word.
Duggar family outings consist of the females in the family protecting their brothers and fathers from "immodest" women who might be out and about. If they see someone who might be showing excessive cleavage, for example, one of the women in the family will use the safe word to discreetly alert her brothers and father to avert their eyes.
Duggar kids start doing chores at 3 years old.
From the time they're 3, each Duggar gets a list of daily chores. They're paid an allowance for these chores, but it's not what you think. Each kid makes $0.03 per chore, which most kids today would probably scoff at.
There's technically a 20th kid.
In 2016, Jim Bob and Michelle welcomed another child into their home. Michelle's niece, Rachel Hutchins, has a 12-year-old named Tyler.
Rachel couldn't take care of him, so he went to live with his grandmother until she was no longer able to care for him after suffering a stroke. The Sun reports that Jim Bob and Michelle were given custody of the teen boy, but he's still working on his relationship with Rachel, as well.
Jeremy won't use the internet on his phone.
Though he's just a Duggar by marriage, Jeremy Vuolo's beliefs are pretty aligned with his strict in-laws. For example, he revealed he doesn't use the internet on his cellphone.
"I have had zero access to it for the last five or six years on my phone. I do have e-mail, and I have a chess app and an MLS soccer app, but that's it," Jeremy confessed.
"I don't want all that temptation in my hand. I want to maintain purity in my thoughts and in my eyes. It's an accountability measure."
Jill is a licensed midwife, but not practicing.
Jill Duggar is focused on her own family right now, but for a brief time, she was a licensed midwife. She became interested in the work after attending the birth of some of her siblings, as well as that of a friend's child. She worked with a local midwife/doula to learn the practice and attended a few births.
Amy still doesn't speak to most of the family.
Amy's been estranged from Jim Bob and Michelle for some time, though she still occasionally speaks to cousin Jill.
"I think we are all just trying to find our path and we're all just doing things differently," Amy told Entertainment Tonight.
"I'm doing things differently and I'm happy where I'm at. I'm happy for them. Things are definitely different, but I'm happy for everybody.”
They're connected to another big reality TV family.
The Duggars share a loose relation to another TLC family, the Plaths of Welcome to Plathville. How? Anna Duggar's younger brother, Nathan Keller, recently married Nurie Rodrigues. One of Nurie's bridesmaids was Anna's best friend, Hosanna Plath. Nurie also served as a bridesmaid in Hosanna's wedding.
They use a Christian app to monitor their children's web use.
Jim Bob and Michelle revealed that they use a Christian app called Covenant Eyes to monitor what their children are doing online.
"It will give us a report each day and I can see, at a glance from an email, any questionable things or sites [they visited]," Michelle said.
"It opens up whatever's been viewed, and so I appreciate that. That has been a real help."
Jinger is the first Duggar to join TikTok.
Jinger made the move to join TikTok in February 2021. She's posted only one video, and there have been no TikTok dances just yet, but this opens a world of possibilities for the one who was once considered the most rebellious Duggar child. She's already got 16,000 followers.
Jim Bob punished one of his sons after catching him touching himself.
A former crew member told In Touch Weekly that Jim Bob caused a scene on one of the days of filming when he walked in on one of his sons touching himself in the bathroom. He'd been tipped off by a younger sibling, who complained his brother was in the bathroom for too long. Jim Bob reportedly tied the offending Duggar's hands together for the entire following day.
There's only one month of the year with no Duggar birthdays.
None of the Duggar 19 have birthdays in June. They have added some June birthdays to the family, however. Anna's birthday is in June, as well as grandchildren Michael, Marcus, and Garrett. November has the most Duggar birthdays of any month.
Jill feels 'triggered' at the family home.
A fan asked if Jill and Derick have been to the Arkansas home she grew up in, and the couple were pretty candid in their response. "We haven't actually been over there in a while, probably like a couple years, other than once, like, to check the mail," Jill said in the YouTube Q&A.
"There are a lot of triggers there," Derick noted.
"Our threshold — we like to call it — is just a little bit slower in this season of life for us, with a lot going on in our own lives."
Josh and Anna are working on being the next Jim Bob and Michelle.
Josh and Anna have the biggest family of all the married Duggars so far. At six kids, they show no sign of slowing down. Many believe the couple is gearing up to be the couple who lives closest to Jim Bob and Michelle's lifestyle. Fans even think they stand to get Jim Bob and Michelle's family home once their family is larger than the number of Duggars living at home.
