Back in September of 2008, the television network TLC introduced American households to the excessively large Duggar Family. James and Michelle Duggar, at the beginning of the series, were living in a household with 17 children already born and another on the way. Soon those 17 children became 18 and another short year later, Michelle was pregnant again with her 19th child, Josie Duggar. What first started out as a television show meant to give people a chance to catch a glimpse inside the life of a hectic family, “17 Kids and Counting” soon became the source of a lot of controversy. From their strong stance against LGBT issues to molestation accusations, the Duggar Family have created a reputation that might not reflect greatly upon their younger children.
From the very beginning of the television series, viewers were subjected to the Dugger’s unconventional and extremely religious way of living. James and Michelle are devoted practicing Independent Baptists who claim that God will be the one to have the final say on how many children they will, which is why the couple refrains from using any form of birth control. The family often discussed on the show how they value purity and their faith in God along with keeping the children under a strict regiment. All of the Duggar children are homeschooled, have restricted access to television and the internet, and are given few outside privileges. Perhaps one of their most prominent practices is chaperoned courtship, meaning that any of their children who wish to go on a date must do it in a group setting. These strict rules and regulations were alleged to be a part of the Quiverfull movement, which is a movement that advocates the usage strict family rules and the male hierarchy. However, the Duggar Family do not identify themselves as such.
Back when the show was still being aired, “17 Kids and Counting” was TLC’s highest viewed show. An average of 2.3 million viewers tuned in for the newest episodes during the series’ 10th season. In addition to being the station’s most popular series, it also placed into the Nielsen “Cable Top 15”. However, in May of 2015 the show was suspended as a result of Joshua, the 27 year-old eldest son, apologized publicly for his “inexcusable” behavior after facing shocking molestation accusations. In addition to causing this suspension, Joshua Duggar resigned from the Family Research Council after it became public news that he molested five girls, four of which were his sisters, when he was of the ages 14 and 15 years old. According to the police report that In Touch Weekly released, the abuse consisted of breast fondling and inappropriately touching their genital areas while the girls were asleep and without consent while they were conscious. Josh’s wife, Anna, stated that she had knowledge of his actions two years before their betrothal. It is her belief that the counseling and therapy he received after “changed his life” and his parents simply described it as a dark time that their family had to go through.
One can only wonder what happened to the younger children through these “dark times” that the Duggar’s faced, but not much has been released about the family since the cancellation of their show. In April, one month before the series was canceled, James and Michelle’s 5 year old daughter Josie suffered from an unexpected seizure. The girl’s older brother and sister found her sitting unresponsively before she began to seize. The director even reacted, attempting to help before the ambulance arrived to take Josie to the hospital. She was later returned home with a clean bill of health and it was revealed that she has suffered from seizures before. That is the last of updates we’ve had on the family and their children since the show stopped airing thanks to a dark secret that slipped out from the Duggar Family closet.
Thanks for that worthless article.
Amen!
no news here….keep scrolling. I agree with Archibald! Totally worthless article. Try reading the Duggar blog. They update us almost every day.
Maybe the child is possessed
I wonder if Michelle’s “blanket training” could be responsible. Child abuse can cause seizures. They might have just gone too far with that whole spare the rod bit.
It’s Duggar, not Dugger. Try adding proofreading to your freelance “work.”
The parents thought nothing of bringing so many children, including when Michelle got older and older and any child was at high risk of health and developmental issues, into the world and they should have been prepared to support all those kids with money not earned from a TV life. TV was not in their plans for a long time. No one is cheating these people out of anything. It’s all on the idiot parents. I feel for the younger children but am not interested in knowing what is happening to them, and I certainly don’t want the children who are the most vulnerable to be an excuse for the public to let the family back on TV. Jim Bob needs to provide–he set himself up as the great impregnator and macho man, and he should be able to provide without TLC and their recent begging for money from the public. And even now Michelle is still trying to get pregnant. Ick. What’s happening to them is what happens when idiots don’t live in the real world and don’t raise their children in a way that prepares them by way of a useful education and having a healthy amount of interaction with the outside world that creates so many opportunities for growth and jobs. The Duggars have never had to worry about college tuition and never will. They are saving a ton of money by keeping their children uneducated. They feed their children diets begging for more nutrients. They are penny-pinchers to the nth degree. So I don’t want to hear one bit of some sob story they’re telling now.
You are sick . . .
Pedo Perv!
Looking at little kids like that!!
PRAY!!! Not prey…
Well said. don’t worry what th Timothy D ‘s have to say- he just misses watching the little ‘Christian’ children on TV
That sounds about right. Look at him.
The “writer” of this “article” needs to take a basic spelling and grammar course.
This is a totally-biased, anti-Christian article.
Crawl back into your “closet.”
How is this anti Christian?
Funny you should bring up your “closet”.
Sick Pedo Perv!!!