The Duggar Couples: A Comprehensive Guide to How the Duggars Met Their Spouses
The Duggar family became famous because of their supersized nature. Now that the Duggar kids are all grown up, family followers are focused on their romantic lives. There are nearly a dozen Duggar couples, and more are sure to pair off soon. Considering the sheer size of the family, it can be difficult to keep up with how each Duggar couple met. We’ve created a comprehensive guide.
Josh Duggar and Anna Duggar’s courtship is shrouded in mystery
Josh Duggar is now spending more than 10 years behind bars for receiving and possessing child pornography. Before that, Josh Duggar was a major focus of 19 Kids and Counting. His courtship and eventual marriage to Anna Duggar took center stage for several seasons. Still, Duggar family followers don’t believe everything the Duggar family said about the couple’s early relationship.
For several years, rumors have swirled that Jim Bob Duggar arranged Josh and Anna’s marriage. Recently, a Redditor closely connected to Anna Duggar suggested that the mother of seven didn’t have an actual courtship but that Jim Bob Duggar and Mike Keller arranged the couple’s relationship from afar. They married in 2008.
Jessa Seewald met Ben Seewald when he traveled to attend her church
Jessa Seewald and Ben Seewald began courting in 2013, just as the Duggar family reached the height of their fame. Their love story is pretty unconventional when compared to Jessa’s siblings. Unlike many other Duggar couples, Ben and Jessa didn’t actually know each other through their social circles when they met.
According to the couple’s official story, Ben and his family happened upon the Duggars’ church and stepped in for a service. Jessa noticed Ben immediately. Despite their age difference, he pursued Jessa, and the couple eventually began courting. They married in November 2014 and have four children together.
Jim Bob Duggar introduced Jill Dillard and Derick Dillard
Derick Dillard appeared to be the bane of Jim Bob Duggar’s existence until Josh Duggar swooped in and destroyed the family’s entire media empire for a second time. Derick and Jim Bob don’t see eye-to-eye about much of anything. Once upon a time, though, that wasn’t the case.
Jim Bob Duggar is the person who introduced Derick Dillard to his bride, Jill Dillard. The Duggar family patriarch revealed on 19 Kids and Counting that he and Derick had become prayer partners while Derick was doing outreach work in Nepal. Jim Bob later introduced Derick to Jill because he thought they’d hit it off. Derick and Jill married in June 2014 and have three children together. Derick and Jill no longer visit the Duggar family home.
Jinger Vuolo was introduced to Jeremy Vuolo by Ben Seewald
Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo met when Ben Seewald introduced the duo. He and Jessa, who had been married for a while, thought they would get along well. They were right, but things didn’t go smoothly right away.
Jinger Vuolo’s love story is a bit more complicated than most. In the couple’s book, The Hope We Hold, Vuolo recalled having difficulty agreeing to court Jeremy Vuolo because she was afraid of her family and friends’ reactions. Despite all of that, the couple ended up getting together. They married in November 2016. Since then, they’ve moved across the country and welcomed two children.
Joy-Anna Forsyth and Austin Forsyth have a long history of friendship
Joy-Anna Forsyth and Austin Forsyth were always honest about how closely intertwined their families were. Joy and Austin have known each other the longest out of any couple. They first met when Joy was just four and Austin was eight. Over the years, the Forsyth family regularly visited the Duggars.
In a 2021 Q&A on her YouTube channel, Joy revealed that she fell for Austin when she was 13 years old. Austin was 17. Their courtship started years later, though. They married in 2017 and are currently expecting their third child.
Josiah Duggar, Joseph Duggar, and John David Duggar all met their wives through social events
Josiah Duggar, Joseph Duggar, and John David Duggar married women who Duggar family followers spotted in early episodes of 19 Kids and Counting. Joseph Duggar married Kendra Caldwell in 2017. According to their official story, the couple met while attending church services, but Duggar family members spotted Caldwell family members in the background during several major Duggar family events.
The same is true for Josiah Duggar and his wife, Lauren Swanson. Lauren and her family were spotted in a 2010 episode of 19 Kids and Counting. Josiah and Lauren married in 2018, but she wasn’t Josiah’s first love. In 2016, he announced a courtship with Marjorie Jackson. They broke up shortly after they appeared in a video announcement together.
John David Duggar, the second oldest Duggar boy, appeared to be pretty happy being a bachelor. That is until he began courting Abbie Burnett. John David and Abbie allegedly met when the Duggar family flew to Oklahoma for a church service. The Duggar couple made it sound like a chance encounter. Duggar family followers, however, believe that John David and Abbie knew each other for years before they began courting. According to a Reddit AMA, the Duggar family often attended church with the Burnetts and stayed with the family when they were in town.
Jeremiah Duggar, Justin Duggar, and Jedidiah Duggar also met their brides in the Duggar family’s social circle
Justin Duggar, Jedidiah Duggar, and Jeremiah Duggar are the latest Duggar boys to marry. Justin Duggar’s courtship was captured on Counting On before the family’s show was canceled in light of Josh Duggar’s arrest. Jedidiah and Jeremiah, the family’s second set of twins, courted and married after Justin.
Because of the drama surrounding Josh’s arrest and conviction, little is known about how they met their partners, but it’s safe to assume that they linked up through church events. Justin Duggar married Claire Spivey in 2021. According to his LinkedIn profile, Claire’s father, Rob Spivey, worked as a construction manager for the Institute of Basic Life Principles before going into business for himself.
Jedidiah Duggar’s bride, Katey Nakatsu, has a unique background. While her parents are divorced, her father seems deeply connected to Jim Bob Duggar. Katey, like Jedidiah Duggar, was homeschooled, and some family followers believe she was homeschooled using the same curriculum as the Duggars.
As for Hannah and Jeremiah Duggar, they’ve opted to leave less to the imagination. Hannah answered questions about their courtship on Instagram before they wed. Hannah explained that she and Jeremiah had met several years earlier when the Duggar family attended one of her family’s concerts. They ran into each other a few years later at the Duggar family home and saw each other at social events several times before Jeremiah approached her. They married in 2022 and welcomed their first child on Dec. 25, 2022.
While a couple of Duggar couples are expecting babies this year, it doesn’t look like a courtship or wedding is in the works. At the very least, no one has announced a courtship or engagement just yet.
