The Duggar family rose to prominence because of the 2008 TLC series 17 Kids and Counting. It centered around parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their extreme religious beliefs and their children. During the course of the series, the name had to be changed to 19 Kids and Counting to reflect the growing family. The series was canceled when it was revealed their son, Josh Duggar, had allegedly molested five girls, some of whom were his sisters.
An even darker side of the family is being revealed in the Amazon series Shiny, Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. Daughter Jill Duggar Dillard participated in the series and revealed even her grandparents did not understand why her parents had so many children.
Both sets of grandparents on both sides of the family were initially thrilled to become grandparents. Their joy quickly turned into concern, Jill claims. “My grandparents, neither one on either side agreed with my parents having a million kids,” she stated.
Jill explains that her parents felt called to have a large family because that’s what God wanted. "My parents believed you should have as many kids as you’re capable of having until your body tells you to stop," she revealed. This didn’t sit well with her grandparents.
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The grandparents were not shy about voicing their anxieties about Michelle’s health. “They were concerned about my mom’s health and they would always say, ‘Is this your last one?'” Jill recalled. Having this many children was also a big financial burden.
"[At one point] my dad was working like three jobs. He was working at a convenience store and he had a car business and then he had a tow truck business," Jill remembers.
They would often go to restaurants offering “kids eat free” promotions.
"We would just stay there for hours. My dad and mom have a little bit of pride where it's like, 'Yeah, I think we put them out of business,'" Jill recalled.
Michelle and Jim Bob are part of a conservative Christian organization called the Institute in Basic Life Principles, which was founded by Bill Gothard. Within that organization is the Quiverfull movement, which stresses the importance of having a large family to spread its beliefs.
"This is not generations of having big families because you’ve got to run the family farm. This is something different. This was very much a plan to outbreed the heathens," filmmaker Cori Shepherd Stern explains.
Michelle and Jim Bob issued a statement about the docuseries on their website.
“The recent 'documentary' that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love,” it begins. “Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format. This 'documentary' paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days.”
Jill and her parents have a rocky relationship. Michelle and Jim Bob address this in the conclusion of their statement. “We have always believed that the best chance to repair damaged relationships, or to reconcile differences, is through love in a private setting,” they go on to say. “We love every member of our family and will continue to do all we can to have a good relationship with each one. Through both the triumphs and the trials we have clung to our faith all the more and discovered that through the love and grace of Jesus, we find strength, comfort, and purpose.”
