The Duggar Family is marrying off yet another one of their 19 children!
Josiah Duggar announced on Monday that he is now engaged to Lauren Swanson, the girl he’s been courting for less than two months.
Us Weekly reported that Josiah proposed to Lauren on the exact spot that Lauren’s father proposed to her mother.
“This is an exciting, big step in our lives, and the whole thing was very meaningful,” Josiah told the magazine of the proposal. “There’s a lot of family history on this property, making it a special place for Lauren.”
Josiah will be the seventh Duggar child to get married (and the third in a one-year span!) Although he is 21 years old, his bride-to-be, Lauren, is only 18 years old.
Josiah and Lauren did not reveal when exactly they are planning to get hitched, but they’ve been spending a lot of time together over the past few months. In fact, Lauren accompanied Josiah and his family on a trip to Australia and New Zealand in January.
“I’m really excited to be getting married to Josiah,” Lauren told Us Weekly. “Everything about the engagement was such a special moment for me. I’m especially looking forward to spending the rest of my life with him!”
Like Josiah, Lauren comes from a very large and very religious family. She is the daughter of Dwain Swanson, who is very connected to the Duggar’s church through ministry. The Swansons have attended various Duggar events over the years, including the wedding of Jill and Derick Dillard.
Josiah’s parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar posted a congratulatory message to Josiah and Lauren.
“We are so excited to announce that Josiah and Lauren are officially engaged!” the Duggars wrote on their website. “We have prayed for many years that the Lord would bring the right spouses to each of our children. We have known Lauren and her family for a very long time and have seen how she has grown in her knowledge and understanding of the Lord. She is a wonderful, caring, compassionate young lady, full of zeal for Christ. We are very thankful for her. We pray that their lives together will be full of joy and happiness and that God will use their lives for His service. We are looking forward to another Duggar wedding soon!”
Of course, this is not Josiah’s first shot at finding a spouse. In 2015, the then-18-year-old Josiah entered into a courtship with 17-year-old Marjorie Jackson. The couple broke things off after just a few months of courting. (She was reportedly scared off by the massive scandal Josiah’s older brother, Josh, brought to the family that year.)
Now that Josiah is seemingly off the market, there are only a few Duggar kids left who are old enough to get married. Twins Jana and John-David are both 28 and single, while twins Jedidiah and Jeremiah are single and 19.
To read all the stats on the Duggar weddings of the past, click here!
Watch Josiah and Lauren announce their engagement in the video below:
(Photo: TLC)
29 Responses
Congratulations, Si and Lauren!
I honestly don’t understand how they could marry someone they don’t actually know. Like, sure, all these boys seem very polite, but how do you know what kind of person he is, after never having spent time alone with him, and committing yourself to him for life after only three months of having a closely monitored engagement. You conversations are monitored for god’s sake. You aren’t allowed to know them until it’s too late. What if the one you end up with beats you, or forces himself on you because HE wants a baby. These girls are taught to just accept it because they are nothing more than property. That’s absolutely terrifying. These women are never allowed to be themselves.
Yep, that was quick! I think he found a young girl he could latch onto before she changed her mind! I am sure we will see a baby in 9 months. Sad that none of the girls have any ambition in life except to reproduce and go to church. Oh, and to make money off a reality show! 18 is SO young to get married!
This is exactly what I imagine Michael Myers looks like when his mask is off. I hear they are getting married in Haddonfield Illinois on Halloween night. I think the most normal Duggar was Josh. At least he has an Ashley Madison account and thinks about something other then serving the all mighty and all holy prophet of god Jim Bob. It would not surprise me if this girl will be drowning her children in a couple of years. Then tell the police a African American stole her car with her kids in it. The scary part of the Duggars is they keep multiplying
Josh Duggar is not normal. He is an admitted pedophile!
They are so robotic, it’s creepy. Another Jim Blob engineered marriage, endless babies, and misery.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I heard them say they work well together, have served together and that she was the one. I never heard either one of them mention love. If they did say that then I apologize but if they didn’t then that’s sad.
You’re right ! I noticed that too !
Must suck having to marry the first person you date just to get laid….
You cannot really know someone in 2 months, or even a year really. These people are just brain washed into this belief of marrying young to the first person. Very sad.
“I’m excited to marry Josiah—especially the whole ‘spending the rest of my life with him’ part.” Really? You’re excited to marry him but specifically to marry him? They all sound so brain dead, so young, so poorly, horribly educated.
I thought it was so weird how she randomly said his name at the 50 second mark when he was in the middle of a sentence. Stares at him and mutters ” ‘Siah ” like a strange Arkansas robot. She needs a reboot. You can tell she will be an excellent helpmeet and server to her husband (vomit), though I would be concerned about her safety around stoves and possibly babies.
Those men are not blessed with good hair. Just sayin
Or faces…
Good thing the sisters make up for it! They are some gorgeous ladies!
Agree, the sisters actually have beautiful hair and teeth.
All I see is a younger/older Josh.. which is bleh enough!
And now Marjorie is continuing her education and bettering herself every day while this one will be pregnant and living in the warehouse by summer.
Given that their engagements are usually only about three months, I bet Lauren wanted a June wedding. I think they either fudged their official courtship date after the Australia/New Zealand trip made or obvious that they were together, or they brushed off the fact that it was so short with the excuse that Josiah and Lauren had known each other since they were children.
I can’t imagine getting married at 18 to someone I’ve never even kissed. Or been alone with. Pretty sad that that’s the only foreseeable way to get out of their parents’ houses and live adult lives.
She looks so much like his sisters(soo much like Jessa and also like Michelle!) it’s scary! Creepy! Also Anna looks like she could have been a Duggar sister.
Really? Out of the women the Duggar guys have married, I think she looks the least related (God, that sounds so f-ing weird to say). Very different eyes/teeth. Anna looks like she could be a sibling, and I also think the girl Joseph married looks super Duggary too.
I feel like I’d put money on Josiah being the gay one
YESSS. I guess he’s marrying the gay away.
I always thought he was gay. And I think Jana is lesbian. Wouldn’t be a bad thing..just think Jim Bob doesn’t let them be Themselves.
I know you can only judge so much from such a short clip but she seems very strange …. I like Kendra, she seems super sweet and normal… this one is very odd … Children of God Cult weird … yikes …
Totally agree! Something in the way she talks. Kendra has a weird baby talk (perhaps like Michelle?) but I’m not quite sure what this one is aiming for.
I think it also has to do with her face shape too. Because her face is round it makes her look like she has a lot of baby fat (not that she is overweight).
I bet he proposed so fast because he is afraid she will leave just like Marjorie did. Gotta marry while still in the ‘honeymoon phase’.
That was quick. Those desires must be getting stronger a la Kendra and Joe.