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19 Kids and Counting

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19 Kids and Counting
Created byFigure 8 Films
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes55 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducerSean Overbeeke
Running timeapprox. 23 minutes; specials approx. 46 minutes.
Original release
NetworkTLC (2008-present)
ReleaseSeptember 29, 2008 –
Present
Related
Jon & Kate Plus 8
Table for 12

18 Kids and Counting ) is a reality television show produced in the United States by Figure 8 Films about the Duggar family, which consists of parents Jim Bob and Michelle and their 18 children. The eight girls and ten boys[1][2][3][4] all have names starting with the letter "J".[1] The children's names are (in birth order) as follows: Josh, Jana, John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy Anna, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, and Jordyn-Grace. The show airs on TLC.

The show's second season premiered Sunday, January 25, 2009 and was followed by the hour-long special A Very Duggar Wedding, with two more new episodes aired back-to-back January 27. Starting February 24, 2009, the show's name was changed to 18 Kids and Counting.

The family (who lives in Tontitown, Arkansas) previously appeared in several TLC and Discovery Health one-hour specials, most of which focused on three of Michelle's last four births.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Overview

Michelle Duggar is the youngest of seven children (she has one brother Garrett and five sisters Pam, Kathie, Evelyn, Freda and Carol). Originally from Ohio, Michelle moved to Arkansas in her childhood. Jim Bob Duggar is one of two children, with one older sister Deanna. The couple met in the early 1980s, when Michelle had experienced a religious conversion and Jim Bob (along with other church members) was sent for follow-up visits. The Duggars have been married since July 21, 1984.

The Duggars elected to wait before having children and practiced birth control[11] during that time. It would be four years before Joshua, their oldest child, was born. The Duggars then resumed using birth control; however, Michelle conceived again but suffered a miscarriage. Believing the miscarriage was due to the birth control, the Duggars quit using any birth control. Instead, as they explain, they decided to allow God to determine the number of children they would have. Shortly thereafter, Michelle became pregnant again, this time with her first set of twins, Jana and John-David. Thereafter, approximately once every year and a half, Michelle would again become pregnant.

The Duggars are conservative Baptists, the children watch very little television and their Internet usage is restricted. The children are home-schooled using a mix of materials, including those of Switched On Schoolhouse, IBLP, and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). Most of the children do not date, but rather go through courtship, in which the young man seeks permission from the girl's father to begin a relationship. All meetings between a couple include a chaperone and they believe in abstaining from all physical interaction and intimacy (except hand holding), including kissing, until marriage.

The Duggars raise their children using a buddy system, in which an older sibling is assigned to a younger sibling and assists in their daily care. According to Michelle, "They help them with their little phonics lessons and games during the day and help them practice their music lessons. They will play with them or help them pick out the color of their outfit that they want to wear that day and just all of those types of things".[12] In 2004, Michelle Duggar won the "Young Mother of the Year Award" in Arkansas, which is sponsored by American Mothers Incorporated.[13]

Jim Bob is a former politician who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. The Duggars say their income is derived from the commercial properties they own.[14][15]

The Duggars claim they live debt-free,[16][17] which Jim Bob has said is "the fruit of Jim Sammons' Financial Freedom Seminar" he attended years ago (Sammons' Seminar is endorsed by IBLP). Their large house was completed on January 20, 2006 with aid from Discovery Networks and corporate sponsors, who also donated a full pantry and household appliances.[15]

People often try to associate the Duggar Family with the Quiverfull movement, but the Duggars have said that many from the Quiverfull "movement" state that having children should be done "out of obligation" where as they (the Duggar Family) consider each child simply a "gift from God" and the Duggars acknowledge that their decision to "have 18 children" is not for everyone.

On September 26, 2008, their eldest son, Josh, married Anna Keller. In early April 2009, the couple announced that Anna was pregnant. When asked about potential names, they hinted in the interview in keeping with the same one-letter tradition. Josh stated they were thinking "M", after his mother and on July 30, 2009, they announced via their website that their daughter would be named Mackynzie Renée Duggar. Mackynzie is Josh's cousin's name and Renée is Anna's middle name. Mackynzie was born on October 8, 2009.[18]

On September 1, 2009, it was announced that Michelle is pregnant with the couple's 19th child, due to arrive on March 18, 2010.[19]

Family

Parents

  • James Robert "Jim Bob" - born (1965-07-18) July 18, 1965 (age 59)
  • Michelle Annette (née Ruark) - born (1966-09-13) September 13, 1966 (age 58)

Children

Names Date of Birth Notes[20]
1 Joshua "Josh" James (1988-03-03) March 3, 1988 (age 36)
2 Jana Marie (1990-01-12) January 12, 1990 (age 34)
3 John-David
4 Jill Michelle (1991-05-17) May 17, 1991 (age 33)
5 Jessa Lauren (1992-11-04) November 4, 1992 (age 32)
6 Jinger Nicole (1993-12-21) December 21, 1993 (age 31)
7 Joseph Garrett (1995-01-20) January 20, 1995 (age 29)
8 Josiah Matthew (1996-08-28) August 28, 1996 (age 28)
9 Joy-Anna (1997-10-28) October 28, 1997 (age 27)
10 Jedidiah Robert (1998-12-30) December 30, 1998 (age 25)
11 Jeremiah Robert
12 Jason Michael (2000-04-21) April 21, 2000 (age 24)
13 James Andrew (2001-07-07) July 7, 2001 (age 23)
14 Justin Samuel (2002-11-15) November 15, 2002 (age 22)
15 Jackson Levi (2004-05-23) May 23, 2004 (age 20) Birth (via C-section) featured in a Discovery Health special.
16 Johannah Faith (2005-10-11) October 11, 2005 (age 19) Birth featured in a Discovery Health special.
17 Jennifer Danielle (2007-08-02) August 2, 2007 (age 17) Birth featured in a Discovery Health special.
18 Jordyn-Grace Makiya (2008-12-18)December 18, 2008 (16 years) Birth (via C-section)
19 TBA Due March 18, 2010

Other family members

  • Jimmy Lee "J.L." Duggar (February 3, 1936 – February 9, 2009) - Jim Bob's father.
  • Mary Duggar - Jim Bob's mother.
  • Deanna Jordan (née Duggar) - Jim Bob's sister and mother to Amy. She is married to Terry Jordan. Deanna is also an accomplished gospel singer.[21]
  • Amy Rachelle Jordan - Jim Bob's niece, who is a year older than Josh. Though she respects Jim Bob and Michelle's right to have and raise their large family, she openly admits that she has different views on life in several episodes. Unlike the Duggar girls, she wears pants. This also includes her views on dating and family, insisting that, if she marries, she will not have as many children as Michelle. She is also a country singer and sang "Amazing Grace" during the closing credits in the episode about her grandfather's death.[22]
  • Anna Renée Duggar (née Keller) (b. June 23, 1988) - Josh's wife, who grew up in Florida. Anna is featured in the show's first season: in the third episode, Josh proposed to her and in fourth episode, she and Josh courted with chaperones. They were married on September 26, 2008.
  • Mackynzie Renée Duggar (b. October 8, 2009) - Josh and Anna's first child.[18]

Episodes

Further information: List of 18 Kids and Counting episodes

Special guest appearances

Books

  • The Duggars: 20 and Counting (ISBN 978-1416585633)

References

  1. ^ a b "And baby makes ... 18?". Associated Press. October 14, 2008.
  2. ^ Duggar Family at the Internet Movie Database.
  3. ^ Jim Bob Duggar (October 2006). "Duggar Family Portrait Gallery" (SWF file). JimBob.info website.
  4. ^ Associated Press (August 2, 2007). "Duggars welcome 17th child". WMC-TV.
  5. ^ TLC (September 6, 2004). "14 Children and Pregnant Again!". Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Home & Garden News (March 12, 2006). "Dream Home for Family of 18 on Learning Channel".
  7. ^ TLC (March 15, 2006). "Raising 16 Children" (html).
  8. ^ The Learning Channel (June 11, 2006). "On the Road With 16 Children".
  9. ^ "The Duggars: Countdown to Baby 18". Discovery Health.
  10. ^ Associated Press (August 2, 2007). "Couple welcomes 17th child — and wants more". MSNBC. The Duggars have been featured on several programs on cable television's Discovery Health Network. The next special, the Duggar Family Album, is scheduled to air next month, according to Jim Bob.
  11. ^ "About The Duggar Family". Archived from the original on August 11, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ American MorningCNN October 15, 2005, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0510/14/ltm.02.html
  13. ^ Associated Press (May 25, 2004). "(The Duggar family with Governor Huckabee)". MSNBC.
  14. ^ Carrie Rengers (September 9, 2001). "13 Children Add Up To Asset For Challenger". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ a b Arnold Hamilton (December 19, 2005). "For Arkansas family, 18's not a crowd". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2009. The Duggars are an anomaly, attracting worldwide media attention. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Prill Boyle. "Eating an Elephant". National Association of Baby Boomer Women. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Michelle Duggar (September 2003). "Raising 14 Kids". Parents Magazine.
  18. ^ a b "Duggar joy: Parents of 18 now grandparents of 1". MSN. October 9, 2009.
  19. ^ "Arkansas family prepares for baby No. 19". MSN. September 1, 2009.
  20. ^ Discovery Health :: The Duggars
  21. ^ http://www.twoheartsnhim.com/ Two Hearts-N-Him
  22. ^ "Welcome to the Amy Jordyn Web site". Archived from the original on September 27, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

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