Joy-Anna Duggar Wants Everyone to Know She Feels ‘True Joy’ About All the Duggar Babies, Despite Her Own Loss
Joy-Anna Duggar is setting the record straight. The 22-year-old Counting On star took to Instagram to let people know that she is excited to welcome all the new Duggar babies, even as she is grieving the loss of her own pregnancy. The post came after some people criticized her parents for sharing photos of a pregnant Joy-Anna in a happy birthday Instagram post on October 28.
Joy-Anna says she is grieving but still excited to welcome more babies to the Duggar family
Joy-Anna’s post came just eight days before what would have been her due date. In early July, the reality TV star gave birth to a stillborn baby daughter at 20 weeks. She and her husband Austin Forsyth, 25, documented their heartbreaking loss on social media, sharing photos of them cradling their baby, who they named Annabell Elise.
“We only had her for 20 weeks, Life is fragile and precious. So thankful the Lord gave her to us for that short time! She will be in our hearts forever!,” wrote the couple, who have a 1-year-old son named Gideon.
Now, Joy-Anna wants to make it clear that their own tragedy doesn’t mean that she isn’t happy for the other pregnant ladies in the family. (Kendra Duggar, Abbie Duggar, Lauren Duggar, and Anna Duggar are all currently expecting.)
“[W]e want others to know that the loss we feel does not negate the true joy and expectation we feel as we await the arrival of sisters’ and friends’ babies,” she wrote in the caption accompanying a photo of all the pregnant Duggar women. “There are lots of little nieces on the way, and we couldn’t be more excited!”
“It’s a strange dichotomy. In the words of the Apostle Paul, we are ‘as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,'” she added.
Joy-Anna says she and Austin are ‘thankful’ for the memories they have
Though Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and Joy-Anna’s friend Carlin Bates were slammed online for sharing photos of a pregnant Joy-Anna, she and Austin say those images aren’t as painful to look at as some might think.
“So thankful to have these pictures from the photo shoot back in June with all the pregnant sisters,” Joy-Anna wrote in her Instagram post. “I couldn’t have known at the time what these memories would mean to me now … We are thankful for memories like these. We are thankful for the precious hours we were able to hold her in our arms and say our goodbyes.”
As for whether Joy-Anna and Austin might have another baby, she told Us Weekly that they are taking things slow.
“We want to be wise and give my body time to heal,” she said. “But we are excited for the children that God’s going to give us and can’t wait.”
She also said that she relied on support from her husband and her family to get through a difficult time, calling Austin her “anchor.”
“He was reminding me, ‘OK babe, remember, not only are you grieving and stuff, but your hormones are changing and your emotions,’” she said. “He was just there to support me.”
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