Jinger Vuolo recently opened up about her religious upbringing in the Duggar family and how it once made her believe that married women were required to shoot out as many children as humanly possible.
As fans know, the former Counting On star is one of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar’s 19 children. Jinger and husband Jeremy Vuolo are parents to daughters Felicity and Evangeline, and the couple announced last week that they are expecting another baby, due in March.
While viewers of ‘Counting On’ and the show’s predecessor, 19 Kids and Counting, are likely aware of the Duggar family’s belief of married couple forgoing birth control and having as many children as possible, Jinger revealed last week that as a child, she never realized she had the option to do things differently.
In a clip from The Jinger & Jeremy Podcast, Jeremy asked Jinger if as a child, she thought she’d grow up to have as many kids as possible like her parents did. Without hesitation, Jinger replied, “Yeah, definitely.”
“I think whenever I was super-young, I thought that that was just what I was gonna have,” she said. “If you get married at a young age, then you’ll just have as many kids as possible.
“I didn’t think that there was any other option to honor God and to be in that place,” she continued. “Like, if you’re married, you’re gonna have as many kids as you can until you can’t have kids anymore and so I thought I probably would have a ton of kids.”
Jinger went on to say that it wasn’t until she “came out of that theology” that her mindset changed.
“ … Realizing that children are a blessing from the Lord, that is true, and we value children because God does … ,” she said. “And just because children are also a gift from God, doesn’t mean that we have to have as many as we can.”
Jinger said when it comes to having children, there is also a responsibility for couples to consider what they can handle, while also not feeling pressured by those around them who may have a lot of kids “and be doing really great with that.”
“It’s like, I don’t want to, you know, feel the pressure of having to have that many kids,” she said. “But then at the same time, it’s also just enjoying the children you have and then seeing like, OK, where would God lead us?”
Jinger isn’t the first of her siblings to go against Jim Bob and Michelle’s beliefs when it comes to having children. As The Ashley previously told you, Jill Dillard and husband Derick shocked fans back in October 2020 when they revealed they were using birth control to prevent pregnancy, less than a year after admitting to fans they weren’t against doing so.
(Jill and Derick are parents to sons Israel, Samuel and Freddy. The couple announced in April that their daughter, Isla Marie, had died in utero when Jill was four months pregnant.)
Like Jinger, Jill also spoke last year about what she was taught growing up in the Duggar home when it came to having children.
“Growing up, it was ingrained in me that if you don’t have as many kids as you’re able to, that there’s something wrong with that,” she stated. “But there was a shift in me where I felt like it wasn’t wrong if you decided as a couple that it’s best for you to wait.
“Children are a blessing, but that doesn’t mean that at all costs, you should have as many kids as possible,” Jill added.
Watch Jinger and Jeremy’s full podcast episode below.
RELATED STORY: Former ‘Counting On’ Stars Jinger & Jeremy Vuolo Are Expecting Baby No. 3: See Jinger Reveal the News to Her Family
(Photos: YouTube; Instagram; TLC)
2 Responses
They don’t give them the attention they deserve. They dump their responsibility on the oldest kids.
I’m proud of Jinger and Jill, good for them. There is no way you can give 19 kids the individual attention they need and deserve.