(Note: This story was updated in March 2015 to reflect any changes that have taken place in the family since the story originally posted.)
Viewers seem to be fascinated by TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, and for good reason. With 19 children, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar are certainly not the typical parents we see on reality shows. Since the show began in 2008, we have seen its name changed from ’17 Kids and Counting’ to ’18 Kids and Counting’ as the Duggar family grew, and is now holding strong at ’19 Kids and Counting.’
The Ashley is fascinated with the family as well, so she has decided to break down the show by only using numbers.
So here, The Ashley brings you…’19 Kids and Counting: By the Numbers.”
0 Number of Duggars that eat pork
0 Number of real flowers present when Michelle married Jim Bob Duggar
0 Number of times Michelle says she’s turned down Jim Bob when he wanted to have sex
(She said in her TLC blog that she is “always joyfully available for him” sexually.)
1.5 Number of years, on average, in between each of the Duggar’s children’s births
2 Number of sets of twins the Duggar family has
(Jana & John-David and Jedidiah & Jeremiah)
2.5 Number of years since Michelle’s last pregnancy (which ended in a miscarriage)
3 Number of Duggar children that are allowed to kiss someone
(Only three Duggar kids are married)
4 Number of years Jim Bob and Michelle waited after getting married to have their first child
(Michelle was on birth control but quit using it after suffering a miscarriage around 1989. She hasn’t used it since.)
7 Number of months Michelle and Jim Bob dated before becoming engaged
10 Number of seasons the family’s reality show has been on the air
10 Number of years old a family member has to be in order to chaperone the date of a sibling that’s courting
14 Number of months Jessa and Ben Seewald courted before getting married
19 Number of children Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have
40 Number of days Michelle and Jim Bob say they abstain from sex after Michelle has a baby boy
48 Number of boxes of cereal the family consumes each month
80 Number of days Michelle and Jim Bob abstain from sex after Michelle has a baby girl
200 Number of wedding guests present at Jim Bob and Michelle’s wedding
700 Number of dollars the Duggars say they spend on utilities in a typical month
900 Number of square feet in the first house Jim Bob and Michelle bought
1000 Number of wedding guests present at Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard’s wedding
2000 Number of square feet in the home the Duggars were living in (with 17 kids!) when they first started their reality show
2398 Number of dollars the most expensive thing on Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard’s Walmart wedding registry cost
(It was a riding lawn mower, in case you were wondering!)
3000 Number of dollars the Duggars set aside each month to pay for food
87,000 Number of dollars (approximately) the Duggars spent to have their 7,000 square foot house built.
Click to read The Ashley’s “By the Numbers” posts on Sister Wives, The Bachelor and 16 and Pregnant.
8 Responses
Oh! I have to credit a reader of the Bombmom blog who said re: the entire kid, after kid, after kid deal with my favourite quote, “It’s a uterus, not a clown car!”.
I used to watch this show when it first aired and I thought that they were a nice family. After a while I started looking into the things they were talking about in their show, like ATI and Alert camp, and I was horrified by what I found. I don’t know if the Duggars are different or if they hide a lot from the cameras but some of this stuff is absolutely horrible. I would even go so far as saying it is child abuse. I don’t know if the Duggars participate in some of these activities, but they do associate themselves with an institution that promotes it.
Hi Ashley can you please write an article about the fact that the oldest son Josh works for the FRC ( Family Research Council) an extremly homophobic and just generally fucked up cult like orginization that believes they are the face of the avarge Christian American . I’d be really interested in reading about that from your point of view.
The Duggars actually started with one hour specials. The first one was in 2004 and documented Jackson’s birth. Josh was in his mid to late teens at the time. I believe they did three additional specials, each documenting a birth before they were picked up for their series. I’ve loved this show and family since they first started airing and there really doesn’t seem to be an end for them in sight. Although, I don’t think they would really mind either way and that’s probably one of the most lovable parts of their family.
I’m pretty sure there were only 14 kids when the show first started.
I am really curious – why do they abstain 40 days after she has a boy and 80 days after having a girl? I don’t get it.
I’m ashamed to admit, but I’ve read their books, in which they explain it. I know it’s something biblical…
Old Testament. The torah says it’s because girls have more “holiness”, which lingers longer and should be respected. Duggar types, (Evangelicals?), say it’s because girls are unclean as they’ll have their periods one day. Nice, huh?
The thing I don’t get is, this is not New Testament teaching. why are they embracing that?
Actually, that’s not true, I don’t get ANYTHING about these people. Not. One. Single. Thing.