Former Counting On couple Jill and Derick Dillard shocked fans after revealing recently that they use birth control, despite Jill’s family infamously popping out as many children as humanly possible.
In response to some of the feedback she’s received, Jill opened up to People this week about her and Derick’s decision to not have “as many children as God gives” them (as most of the Duggars famously do), and why she decided to stray from what the Duggars “ingrained” in her.
Though Derick stated last year that he and Jill weren’t against birth control, the announcement made during their YouTube Q&A marked the first time the couple confirmed they were using birth control themselves in order to prevent pregnancy.
“Growing up, it was ingrained in me that if you don’t have as many kids as you’re able to, that there’s something wrong with that,” Jill told the magazine. “But there was a shift in me where I felt like it wasn’t wrong if you decide as a couple that it’s best for you to wait.
“Children are a blessing, but that doesn’t mean that at all costs you should have as many kids as possible,” she added.
Jill, the fourth child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, shares sons Israel and Samuel with Derick, whom she wed in 2014. Comparatively, Jill’s sister Jessa Seewald, who tied the knot a few months after Jill, welcomed her third child last year with husband Ben; and despite getting hitched just three years ago, Jill’s younger brother Joe Duggar will soon be a father of three, as his wife Kendra is currently expecting.
After giving birth to Israel in 2015 via C-section (after nearly 70 hours of labor), Jill’s doctor reportedly recommended she wait 18 months to get pregnant again. Two years later, she welcomed her second son.
Jill and Derick have both spoke about having more kids in the future; however, Jill believes “you need to do what’s healthiest and best for your family.” For Jill and Derick, that means using birth control.
“Yes, we use birth control, but we prefer to use non-hormonal birth control methods … just because we don’t want to use anything that could potentially cause an abortion,” Jill stated in one of the Dillard Family Q&A videos. “ … we just want to be careful about that and we’re also, like, more natural-minded.”
Jill noted she and Derick choose to “steer clear” of birth control methods that may have longer lasting effects because they do eventually plan to have more children.
Derick reposted the People magazine story link to his Twitter, telling his followers that he is “so proud of my wife” for speaking out.
So proud of my wife! https://t.co/XYt6Dit5hy
— Derick Dillard (@derickmdillard) October 21, 2020
Fans began posting comments Wednesday on Jill’s social media, praising the former TLC star for “doing what’s best for [her] and [her] family.”
“Love the article in People. I think it’s great that you and [Derick] are doing what is important for your family and no-one else,” one comment read. “Keep going forward.”
“It takes so much courage for someone to speak out and tell their story,” another wrote. “For what it’s worth from this stranger, I’m proud of you! Sending prayers and good vibes for your continued healing.”
Jill’s cousin (and recent BFF) Amy Duggar recently spoke out against a fan who told her she should be pregnant again since her son Daxton is now a year old. She blasted Duggar followers who constantly compare her to her forever-fertile cousins, telling them “a woman’s body is not a factory!” in an Instagram rant posted earlier this week.
RELATED STORY: Amy Duggar Blasts Fan Who Tells Her to “Pick Up the Pace” & Have More Babies Like Her Cousins: “A Woman’s Body Is Not a Factory!”
(Photos: YouTube; TLC; Instagram)
She had me until she said that birth control causes abortion.. Girl, no.
Abortion is the correct term for a miscarriage. Spontaneous abortion. Jill trained as a midwife and knows the correct terminology.
I hope this is Jill’s decision. It seems to me she’s just going along with what Derick wants. Derick seems to be off his rocker at times. Why marry Jill when you know the family she comes from. Seems to me he just wants attention.
You do you, Jill! I’m glad she would rather watch her sons grow up than risk every year a potentially harmful home birth (I’m sure she will have next one in hospital…yes, I believe they will only have one more but not for a few years)! I hope Jessa learns something from that even though her last two births were easier than Spurgeon’s. And it’s great that she has Amy for support, even though she still gets along with her sisters, I’m sure they aren’t really thrilled about her being so vocal about this while Amy will probably stick to only one child or have two max.
Good for Jill! I especially hope that it may influence her younger siblings. Children are a blessing, but they’re expensive and they take a lot of work! Nobody should have more kids than they can take care of. And when you’re very young, you don’t have a very good grasp of how many kids you can reasonably manage.
If I remember both of Jill’s births were rather difficult. I bet she had a doctor warn her against having more kids. If that is the case good on her for actually listening and not ‘surrendering’ her fate to god and possibly leaving her children motherless.
I don’t know that I’ve seen a better picture than that collage at the end of the Duggar reaction to the birth control.
Masterful. Just masterful. *chef’s kiss* Perfection.
“Judgy Jessa” man lol.
Are there birth controls that have long lasting effects? Even with hormonal pills I’m pretty sure you can get pregnant as soon as a month later – if you’re lucky and trying and if you’re unlucky and not trying lol
Anyway sounds like family planning and I do the same and absolutely love it! Good for them.
Yes there are the long-term birth controls like the shot for five years or 10 years where you can’t have kids or the implant in your arm thickens the uterus so much that you have a real hard problem getting pregnant and the placenta detaching correctly my daughter had a stillbirth because of it
Vasectomies and having your tubes tied are also forms of birth control. Could also be what she’s referring to since she does say they might have another in the future.