Jessa Duggar Seewald is about to dust off her trusty “birthing” couch once again, as the former Counting On star just announced that she and her husband Ben Seewald are expecting their sixth child.
Jessa and Ben— who have been for married 10 years— are currently parents to daughters Fern and Ivy, as well as sons Spurgeon, Henry and George— whom Jessa gave birth to in December 2023.
Jessa took to Instagram to announce she’s once again pregnant by posting a photo of a sonogram, along with the caption, “Halfway to holding you in our arms!”
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Now that Jessa will have had six babies in 10 years, she is currently the second-most fertile offspring of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, whom infamously have 19 children. (JB and Michelle’s eldest son Josh and his wife Anna currently hold the record for most “blessings” at seven; however, given that Josh will be caged up in a Texas prison for the next seven-or-so years, it’s unlikely he and Anna will be able to spawn anymore.)
Jessa and Ben haven’t yet revealed if they’re expecting a boy or a girl. If it is a girl, they will likely name her after a plant, as they’ve done for daughters Ivy and Fern. Two of their boys’ names— Spurgeon and Henry Wilberforce— were named in honor of prolific Christian leaders.
Jessa is not the only Duggar that’s currently pregnant. Next up in the birthing stirrups will be Jinger Duggar Vuolo, who is about to give birth to her third child– a boy— any day. Hannah Duggar— the wife of Jessa’s brother Jeremiah— is also due to give birth this spring. (This will be their third child in less than three years.)
Jessa gave birth to her first three children on her couch at home, with cameras rolling for ‘Counting On.’ For her birth with fourth child Fern in July 2021, however, she chose to have a hospital birth, given that she had serious complications after each of her previous homebirths. She also gave birth to son George in a hospital in December 2023.
Ben and Jessa have frequently stated that they— like many of the other Duggar couples— are open to having “as many children as God gives” them. Currently, Jessa has given birth at a consistent rate of one baby every two years. (She’s had a blessing in the years 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023, and will give birth in the late spring/early summer of 2025, based on her caption.)
Jessa and Ben received plenty of congratulatory messages from members of the Duggar clan.
“Congrats,” wrote her sister Jill Duggar Dillard. “So happy for y’all.”
“Yayyy!” commented Hannah. “Can’t wait to meet this sweet baby!”
While the family was supportive, Jessa received quite a few negative comments for seemingly subscribing to her parents’ views that couples should have as many babies as possible. (Jessa’s sisters Jill and Jinger have both stated in the past interviews that they were taught this as youngsters growing up in the IBLP.)
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“Keep popping them out like a Pez dispenser. Geez give one another a rest,” someone wrote.
“You know that you don’t need to have a million kids,” another person commented. “Think for yourself and not what someone else tells you to do.”
“Why so many babies?” someone else asked.
RELATED STORY: Jinger Vuolo Says She Isn’t Mad at Parents Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar for Raising Her in IBLP Cult: “They Did Their Best”
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
21 Responses
I don’t care how few or many kids anyone has. I want people to have as many as they want to, when they want to. I don’t like people upset someone has ‘too many’.
Josh gets visits so you never know.. ugh. Objecting to the visits not the babies Anna has. Ick. Free Anna.
Michelle married at 17 with parental permission. Ick. What were her parents thinking? No problems with the babies but why give permission to be chained to someone at 17?
Geez, why be so hateful? They are great parents and can decide on how many children they want. Those kids are happy and well taken care of. She isn’t the only person to have 6 kids. Quit complaining and give her some grace. JMO.
Are they great parents? After a certain point, you can’t actually give all of those kids the attention they deserve. After a certain point, it seems like you don’t actually value the kids you already have.
My concern isn’t even how they afford all these children, It’s how they have enough TIME that each child needs equally devoted to them in order to thrive.
Just need beds, clothes, food, books and a roof over their heads.
Plenty of people have 1 and get WIC. Plenty of people come over with 6 kids an no one has a problem or wonder how can afford it. They live in a cheap part of the country.
They can be a product of their upbringing, but they can also really want many kids. It’s like people can’t understand that.
Live and let live. I personally don’t care if she decides to have 50 kids as long as they can provide for them. I could be wrong but I believe the reason people come for this family so hard is that they, the family, want to be political and push their beliefs onto others. Also, can’t preach Christian family values to the masses while spending years covering for pedo brother.
Exactly this. Michelle wants to make robo calls to ‘protect women from other trans women using the bathroom’ but didn’t protect her own daughters, and other little girls visiting their house, from her pedo son. Also Jessa had a D&C which is medically considered a surgical abortion but wants to publicly be prolife. Their motto should be do as I say not as I do.
It’s weird that people are mad she’s pregnant again. No one needs to try policing her uterus like that. It’s between her and her husband. If she’s still brainwashed (like most of them are), it’s up to her to find her way out. But honestly, she seems content with her life, so who cares?
No one thinks about the kids, and how it befalls every one of them to ‘help’ with their siblings when in all actuality, the kids are probably raising themselves and their siblings. It’s simply not fair to do that to a child, because there is no way a parent can manage that many kids without help. I don’t follow any of these fools but yea. She’s gonna get judged and all their ‘supporters’ who have no response other than ‘people can get over it/don’t police her uterus/she seems content’ should find a new argument.
I agree. I don’t think anyone is “policing her uterus”. The concern is for the children. Abuse runs rampant in these communities.
I’m actually not a supporter. I think every woman has the right to choose when it comes to reproduction. And I’m well aware how these communities work because I was part of it for more than 25yrs. I don’t believe in being pro choice but then also saying “how can she have all these kids”. It’s contradictory. I know several families (a few of them being kids I grew up with who have their own families now) who have 6-10 kids on average. I’m one of 6. My parent were completely absent and I did raise myself. But most of the big families I know have very involved parents. None of the kids are little parents to their siblings. Some families choose to be involved. Some choose “the buddy system”. It’s not my place (or anyone else’s) to say what’s right or wrong for them.
“The buddy system” is not right for any child because it is forcing little children to be little parents, giving them parent-like responsibilities. The solution would be to stop having more kids for the sole purpose of being “buddies” for your younger kids because you are stretched so thin you can’t raise them yourself. You only get one childhood. I know I wouldn’t want to spend mine raising my siblings because my parents don’t believe in birth control and chose to go the ‘ol thumper route anyway.
THIS! Pro-choice also means the right to choose to have children. You can disagree all you want, but to sit and judge and slam and say “how dare she” is the same as slamming a woman for having an abortion. And both sides use the same argument “it’s about the children”. At the end of the day, nobody knows for sure how attentive she is to her children or how she manages all of them.
I’m just disgusted with the names. Spurgeon is so awful.
Isn’t her husband a pastor? How can they afford a family of 8 with a pastor’s salary?
No, Ben isn’t a pastor. Jinger’s husband is the one that’s a pastor. Jeremy.
(Sidenote: Jeremy makes PLENTY of money. Different religions, different types of churches, make a HUGE difference in how much $$ comes in.)
Also, the Duggar kids all make bank on any media/interviews/videos/books/vlogs/socials they do. So it doesn’t really matter what their day jobs are. They all have tons of followers on their socials and make good money. Especially the older crew.
Ben Seewald is also a pastor. Jessa didn’t write any memoir and I’m not seeing her giving interviews so I don’t think they are making much money outside his job. And considering her own father couldn’t provide for his family until they got their show, it doesn’t surprise me they have more kids than they can provide for. It’s just sad that they didn’t learn anything from their own experiences
Jessa Duggars estimated net worth is 1 million dollars. She isn’t hurting for money
I always figured Jessa would be the one to stray from the Duggar ways and Jill would be the one to have a million little Duggars
I did too, but this is pretty common. Jill was perfect and did everything right and she didn’t get the payoff she was expecting, so she rebelled. Jessa is still trying to “win,” but she hasn’t realized yet that no one else wants the prize