‘Counting On’: A Complete Timeline of Josh and Anna Duggar’s Marriage
The Duggar family has been busy expanding. In the last few years, they’ve added new in-laws to the group and welcomed a bevy of new grandchildren. While the world awaits the next courtship, interest in Josh and Anna Duggar’s marriage continues. The troubled couple has been married for more than a decade, but there years together haven’t exactly been happy ones.
How did Josh and Anna Meet?
Josh and Anna have stated that they began their courtship after meeting at a homeschooling conference in 2006 and married two years later, but family critics believe their story is a bit more complicated than that. A reported insider spoke with Radar Online in June 2019 and suggested Anna and Josh’s courtship was heavily monitored and was likely arranged. The insider went on to claim that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar seemed to believe that finding Josh a romantic partner would prevent him from further abusing his siblings.
Family critics also find it hard to believe that the duo was in an official courtship for more than two years. Not only is that a long courtship by Duggar standards, but both Michelle and Anna have made statements that indicate the engagement was a sudden shock. Reddit users dug up old footage and found that Michelle suggested Anna had promised not to court until she turned 20. Josh proposed to Anna on her 20th birthday. Anna also indicated that she had no idea that Josh was interested in her until he proposed. That statement seems particularly odd, as the majority of courtships within the family’s ultra-conservative Christian ministry do, indeed, end in marriage.
How many children do Josh and Anna Duggar have?
Regardless of how the duo got together, they didn’t waste any time starting a family. By their first wedding anniversary, Anna and Josh were preparing to welcome their first child. Mackynzie Renee Duggar was born in October 2009. Josh and Anna walked down the aisle the prior September.
Mackynzie wasn’t an only child for long. Just after Mackynzie’s first birthday, the pair announced their second pregnancy. Their first son, Michael James, was born in June 2011. The couple has welcomed a new child roughly every two years since. In June 2013, Marcus Anthony joined the family. In July 2015, the couple announced the arrival of Meredith Grace Duggar. Just over two years after that, in September 2017, they welcomed Mason Garrett to the family.
Most recently, Anna gave birth to her sixth child. Maryella Hope Duggar was born on November 27, 2019. She was the last Duggar grandchild to arrive during the 2019 Duggar baby boom. She, however, is unlikely to be the last child for Josh and Anna. Family critics are anticipating the announcement of another pregnancy in 2021 if Anna sticks to the pattern that she has established.
Josh and Anna Duggar weathered back-to-back scandals
For the first several years of their marriage, things seemed to be going fine for Josh and Anna. They welcomed children and even embarked on a big move together. While they were residing in the nation’s capital, things started to fall apart.
According to USA Today, In Touch first broke the molestation scandal in May 2015. The publication reported that Josh had been caught inappropriately touching several of his siblings and a family friend during his teenage years. Anna, who stood by her husband, claimed to have been informed of his wrongdoings before their marriage. Family followers are suspicious of that claim.
In August 2015, Anna was stymied by cheating allegations when her husband was outed as a serial cheater. He was found to have dating profiles on both Ashley Madison and OkCupid. He resigned from his job and entered a rehabilitation facility. Anna and the couple’s children returned to Arkansas to live with the Duggar family. They’ve remained in Arkansas ever since, and while they have put up a united front, Anna has offered glimpses of sorrow and pain in recent years. Now, it’s believed the family may be bracing for yet another scandal.
Josh and Anna Duggar are living back with the Duggar family
Josh and Anna’s marriage has seemingly hit another rough patch, at least, that’s what family followers think. In March 2019, Josh and Anna put their farmhouse on the market and moved to an undisclosed location. It took the couple several months to unload the property, but in August 2019, the home was finally sold. Since then, the couple, and their six children, have seemingly taken up residence at a warehouse located on the Duggar family’s compound.
Anna and Josh have been pretty tightlipped about where they’ve been living, but Anna’s Instagram feed has pretty much given away their current living situation. Family critics have hypothesized that the family was moved back onto the property because another scandal is about to break, and they strongly believe Josh is at the center. In November 2019, it was reported that federal agents were on hand at the property. There has been no word on the situation since, but Josh and Anna certainly seem to be hunkering down inside the warehouse. They haven’t mentioned plans of moving on anytime soon, and Anna is even doing renovation projects to make the non-traditional living space feel more home-like.
