19 Kids and Counting
19 Kids and Counting is an American reality television series that aired on the cable channel TLC for seven years until its cancellation in 2015. The show features the Duggar family: parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and their 19 children – nine daughters and ten sons – all of whose names begin with the letter "J". During the duration of the show, two children were born, three children were married, and four grandchildren were born.
The show focuses on the life of the Duggar family, who are devout independent Baptists, and frequently discusses values of purity, modesty and faith in God. The Duggars avoid birth control, saying they have decided to allow God to determine the number of children they have. All of the children are homeschooled and access to entertainment such as movies and television is limited. They practice chaperoned courtship, in which a couple becomes acquainted only in a group setting. The values presented on the show have been associated with the Quiverfull movement, which has been described as promoting strict family conformity, male hierarchies and subservient roles for women. The Duggars have stated that they are not associated with the Quiverfull movement. However, in an article formerly published on their website titled "Why Have Such a Large Family?", the Duggars reference Psalms 127:3–5, from which the Quiverfull movement name comes. Moreover, in 2001, Jim Bob and Michelle were interviewed for an article published on a Quiverfull affiliated website. The Duggar family has also been connected with the Institute in Basic Life Principles and the Advanced Training Institute, both of which were founded by Bill Gothard.
The series began on September 29, 2008, and concluded on May 19, 2015. The show was TLC's most popular, averaging 2.3 million viewers per new episode in Season 10 and scoring in the Nielsen "Cable Top 25".
On May 22, 2015, TLC suspended the series when the Duggars' eldest son Josh publicly apologized for having "acted inexcusably" following reports that he molested five girls, including some of his sisters, by fondling them. These events occurred in 2002 and 2003, when Josh was 14 to 15 years old and prior to the beginning of the show. On July 16, 2015, TLC announced that the show was officially canceled and would not resume production. A spin off show, Counting On, aired in December 2015 and was cancelled in 2021, due to Josh Duggar's arrest for child pornography.
Background
The Duggars live in Tontitown, Arkansas, near Springdale and originally appeared in several TLC and Discovery Health one hour specials, mostly focused on four of Michelle's last five deliveries. Jim Bob Duggar has an older sister, Deanna, who occasionally appears on the show. Michelle Duggar has six older siblings. The couple met in the early 1980s when Duggar and a fellow church member were sent for a follow-up visit after Michelle experienced a religious conversion. The Duggars were married on July 21, 1984, just after Michelle's high school graduation. When they married, she was 17 and he was 19; neither attended college. Together they first launched a used-car business, then towing and real estate businesses; both are licensed real estate agents.The Duggars initially chose to wait before having children and used birth control pills in the early years of their marriage. Their eldest child, Joshua, was born in 1988. They resumed using oral contraceptives after his birth, but conceived again, despite this precaution; however, Michelle miscarried early in her pregnancy. She has mentioned that they named this child Caleb, despite not knowing the baby's sex. After consulting a doctor, the Duggars were told that birth control can allow conception, but cause miscarriage. As a result, they decided to stop using birth control and allow God to determine the number of children they would have. Michelle soon became pregnant again, this time with her first set of twins, Jana and John-David. Michelle gave birth 17 times, over a period of years, approximately one birth every 15 months.
The high number of children is partly related to their Fundamental Baptist beliefs that prohibit contraception. They only watch programs they consider to be wholesome family television and various historical events. Their Internet service is filtered. They adhere to certain standards of modesty in clothing, in accordance with their religious beliefs. Shorts and tank tops are prohibited, and the women do not wear skirts that go above the knee. According to Michelle Duggar, such standards are mandated by scripture. They believe that baring one's thigh is "nakedness and shame" and runs the risk of "defrauding" others – or stirring up and arousing "desires in someone else that cannot be righteously fulfilled". They avoid beaches and public swimming areas "because it's just too hard for the guys to try to keep their eyes averted in those situations". Female family members keep their hair long, and males are clean-shaven and short-haired. They practice chaperoned courtship, where the couple get to know one another in a group setting. The Duggars describe this as "dating with a purpose". The Duggar children cannot begin a courtship without parental permission. Before a courtship officially begins, an interested man must speak to the woman's father.
Jim Bob Duggar served as a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. He was defeated for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate by incumbent Tim Hutchinson in 2002 by a vote of 71,576 to 20,546. He later became a real estate agent and investor. The Duggars' income is derived from rental proceeds of commercial properties they own. Prior to the scandal surrounding son Josh, they lived debt-free.
Construction of their 7000-square-foot house began in 2000, when they bought the lot and ordered two steel frames. One of the frames was not drilled correctly, so the Duggars received a third frame, which was used to build the girls' room and the industrial kitchen. Discovery Networks completed the build, finding local Arkansas construction workers to donate their skills and time. The home was completed on January 20, 2006. Some of the painting, decorating, furnishings, appliances, and other finishing touches were provided by Discovery Networks and corporate sponsors, as part of the one-hour television special entitled 16 Children and Moving In.
But there were longstanding questions about the way "19 Kids and Counting" were able to skirt child labor laws because they were classified as documentaries. A 2010 investigation by The Times revealed that producers of "19 Kids and Counting" and other reality TV programs had not obtained work permits to employ minors under 16. Patriarch Jim Bob Duggar said at the time the family didn't consider the filming to be work. And the questions go beyond labor law. As children, the Duggars' offspring were conscripted into a reality show that stripped them of their privacy and anonymity, all in service of their parents' extreme religious beliefs. Los Angeles Times
Series overview
Events during the series
Michelle Duggar gave birth via emergency C-section to the couple's 19th child, Josie Brooklyn Duggar, on December 10, 2009, six months into her pregnancy. When she was rushed to the hospital for gallstones, doctors discovered that she was pre-eclamptic and performed an emergency delivery. Josie was premature at only 1 lb, 6 oz at birth. Nearly four months later on April 6, 2010, the Duggars were able to take the baby to their temporary rental home in Little Rock while they awaited medical approval to take her home to Tontitown.The Duggars took Josie home to Tontitown for good on June 23, 2010. By that December she weighed 15 lbs 12 oz.
On December 2, 2008, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's book The Duggars: 20 and Counting! was released. Their second book, A Love That Multiplies, was released on June 7, 2011. The eldest four girls – Jana, Jill, Jessa and Jinger – authored Growing Up Duggar: It's All About Relationships, which was released on March 4, 2014.
On November 8, 2011, Michelle Duggar and the family appeared on NBC's Today Show to announce she was expecting their 20th child. On December 8, 2011, the Duggars announced that Michelle had miscarried 20 weeks into her pregnancy. Six days later, they held a memorial service for the stillborn baby girl that they named Jubilee Shalom.
A few months after the birth of their daughter Mackynzie, Josh and Anna Duggar learned that she was pregnant with their second child, but the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. On their daughter's first birthday, Josh and Anna Duggar announced they were expecting again. The couple welcomed their second child, Michael James, on June 15, 2011. They learned that they were expecting again in September 2012.
Josh Duggar was offered a job at the Family Research Council during his wife's pregnancy with their third child. Marcus Anthony was delivered by a midwife on June 2, 2013. Duggar announced that he was hired to be the executive director of the Family Research Council's political action committee, FRC Action, on June 18, 2013, and that the family would move to Washington, D.C.
On December 2, 2014, Josh and Anna Duggar announced they were expecting their fourth child.
The Duggars issued an announcement that Jessa Duggar was in a courtship with Ben Seewald on September 18, 2013. The couple met through their church. On August 15, 2014, after eleven months of courtship, the couple announced their engagement and were married on November 1, 2014.
Jill Duggar's courtship with Derick Dillard was announced on March 31, 2014. They were introduced by Jim Bob Duggar and became further acquainted via supervised Skype and text conversations while Dillard was serving as a missionary in Nepal. Jill Duggar and her father traveled to Nepal to meet Dillard in person and began a formal courtship in November 2013. The couple announced their engagement on April 9, 2014, and were married on June 21, 2014.
The Dillards announced their first pregnancy on August 20, 2014. Their son, Israel David Dillard, was born on April 6, 2015.
The Seewalds announced their first pregnancy on April 21, 2015, having waited until the second trimester.
On July 16, 2015, TLC announced that the series was officially canceled.