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)
4 Responses
Congratulations Jinger & Jeremy ! I was very concerned about your Mom’s misinterpretation of what God meant when it comes to birth control. He does want us to be fruitful & multiply but responsibly. He also does not those of us who can’t even have 1child $ by the time I learned this I couldn’t adopt b/c our ages were too old & we were paying off stdt loans. But we taught music to stdts who continue in their adult lives to stay in touch ; we were good to our family nieces & nephews & now their kids& my 6 cousins’ kids too! We helped our friends who had 3 kids & 2 had spins bifida& have their own families . So God being Siocereign knew hat by the end of my 30’s my health would decline & I’ve enjoyed many children but not in a real parent sense. We did foster Sec 19 teens ( they age out of the foster system @ 16 yrs old. We survived & hopefully they are too ! But God gave us the love to build into their lives.
To conclude, too often churches these days have rigrans catering only to families. The rest of us don’t matter unless we involve ourselves which we did not only in music but Sunday school. & VBS. Being older we left our church & attend an excellent mainline denomination. The minister has a degree in gerontology so she really designs the church for elderly ppl to ZOOM in for services when unable to be present & for weekly Bible studies. There are fellowship functions for them & also for all of to enjoy a potluck meal s well as praise & give thx to God. They haven’t done away w/the choir but there’s a praise choir once every so many wks. There’s a gorgeous pipe organ & Grande piano too ! Anyway, Lyle & I have been arrived 40 yrs w/out our own children. Sometimes I wonder if couples w/no kids think it’s normal to divorce but we were fine. Besides this my hubby has helped me w/chronic diseases such as systemic lupus, fibromyalgia, diabetes, allergies, mini strokes , sticky blood calked Hughes syndrome ( maybe disease status & most recently osteoporosis/arthritis. But we keep Gid central in the tough times & thank Him in the good times. I dfinished my Music degree @ Bible College & learned how to deeply find answers to questions I was tired of being asked yet hated giving or getting a oat answer. I concluded God didn’t create clones or robots. There are many answers yet if we do not recognize nor practice His unconditional love they mean nothing but noise. Strive to love & embrace those who differ from you unless they will not take responsibility for actions that are wrong & don’t care if ppl were harmed by them.
I believed Jinger & Jeremy would do their lives differently & saw it begin as she gradually changed her clothing style! I was ecstatic how well-suited you were to ea other ! Press on in your faith as a family & enjoy everything you can in this beautiful life of ours !
I am REALLY glad the Duggar kids are finally realizing things their parents taught them weren’t necessarily the right thing. (Like let’s not forget they dance on their weddings now too!) That is why I STILL think Justin is deliberately not having children yet even though he will be married for 4 years in February. (Can you imagine if he and Claire actually decide to stay childfree by choice?? JB’s head will explode!) Every break from the Duggar norm is a success!!!
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.