2019 has been described by Duggars as the year of the Great Duggar Baby Boom, a time when it seemed that not a week went by without news of a new pregnancy or birth.
It stands to reason that this year would see a drop-off in procreation, but 2020 won’t come to an end wihout a couple more future fundies being added to the family’s ever-growing ranks.
Joy-Anna Duggar is set to give birth any day now, having watched her due date come and go earlier this week.
Jinger Duggar is pregnant with her second child, and the kid will probably be delivered in a Los Angeles hospital sometime this winter.
But while Jim Bob and Michelle are probably less than thrilled with such a modern, coastal, “elite” method of bringing a young one into the world, babies are babies, and they taught their kids — their daughters in particular — from a young age that procreation is their sole reason for being.
So you can bet the matriarch and patriarch are less than thrilled with what the future holds:
Namely, a whole lot of nothing.
Not only is their no reason to expect any further pregnancy announcements anytime soon, it doesn’t appear that the couple’s single adult children are in any hurry to settle down.
In fact, it’s been quite a while since wedding bells rang in Duggar Land.
John David married Abbie Burnett in November of 2018, and since then the family has gone an unusually long time without welcoming any new in-laws.
Obviously, going two years without a wedding would not be such an unusual thing in most families.
But the Duggars are a family of unusual size, and they’re unusually obsessed with breeding.
Duggars have entered courtships when they were as young as 17, and the vast majority of those courtships have led to marriage.
Currently, six Duggars are 17 or older and completely unattached.
It’s an unprecedented state of affairs, and you can be certain that Jim Bob and Michelle are less than thrilled about it.
After all, the Quiverfull movement to which the Duggars adhere teaches that it’s the sacred duty of all Christians to pop out as many offspring as they physically can with the goal of populating the Earth with evangelicals.
On top of that, courtships, marriages, and pregnancies are what keep the family’s stale media franchise afloat.
Counting On ratings have been on the decline for years, and the show’s current season may well be its last.
The response to a recent episode focusing on Duggar birthing and child-rearing tips served as a reminder that the fans are growing sick of the family’s ultra-old-school beliefs, particularly as expressed by Jim Bob and Michelle.
The fact that Jana Duggar is still single at the age of 30 is a source of constant fascination by fans.
But soon enough, single 21-year-old twins Jedidiah and Jeremiah will be under the same scrutiny.
Jason (20), James (19), and Justin (17) will be under similar scrutiny.
You can bet that Jim Bob will soon start laying on the pressure, if he hasn’t already.
But he might find that he doesn’t hold as much power over the newest crop of single Duggars as he had over their older siblings.