The Duggar family is known for entering into marriage at younger ages, but Jinger Duggar is hoping her children will buck family tradition.
“My parents, they were married at 17 and 19, which is pretty young,” Jinger, 32, said on the Wednesday, February 11, episode of her eponymous podcast, referring to parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. “That would scare me a little bit with my own kids.”
Jinger and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, are parents of Felicity, 7, Evangeline, 5, and Finn, 11 months.
“I think all of us [siblings] would probably be like, ‘17, maybe not for a girl,’” Jinger said, acknowledging that Michelle, 59, was “ready to get married” before she turned 18. “It’s one of those things where you look at it [afterward].”
Jim Bob, 60, and Michelle have been married since 1984, going on to welcome 19 children together. They raised their children to follow a courtship-style of dating when entering into their own romantic relationships. Jinger, however, doesn’t necessarily plan to follow suit with her own kids.
“I think that the Bible’s clear about what purity is before marriage, but as far as the specifics, it’s not nailed down,” Jinger exclusively told Us Weekly in 2023. “[We were taught] you can’t go on a date with someone without a chaperone. You know, you can’t kiss before you’re married, you can’t hold hands, like, all the rules. I don’t see that in the word of God.”
According to Jinger, she wants her and Vuolo’s kids to be more open-minded as they grow up.
“I mean, sometimes things are trial and error,” the People Pleaser author told Us. “I want to equip them for life and give them the best possible lives that I can and point them to the word of God.”
Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo with their kids, her brother and ’19 Kids’ sound guy Jim Good and his wife. Courtesy of Jinger Duggar/ Instagram
She continued, “And then, at the end of the day, I think that they will grow and mature. I don’t think that courtship is a word that we’re gonna use with them at all because I don’t think that that’s the only way to find a spouse — or the best way — at all.”
Jinger, who was 22 years old when she married Vuolo, also saw some of her siblings follow in Jim Bob and Michelle’s footsteps when it came to getting married young. Jinger’s brother-in-law Ben Seewald, for his part, was 19 years old at his 2014 wedding to Jessa Duggar.
“One reason that comes to mind is [what] my parents have shared is them getting married young and then having kids young and raising them, and then now we’re getting married,” Seewald, 30, said on Wednesday’s podcast episode. “The grandkids are coming, and they’re still pretty young and they still have enough energy to get out and do fun stuff with the grandkids. I think you get more of a potential with that next generation … to just be more involved in their lives.”
Jinger Duggar has been honest about the challenges of growing up in the TLC spotlight — and of breaking free from the conservative teachings of her childhood. Jinger is one of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 children who were raised as followers of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, a fundamentalist organization founded by […]
As for Seewald, he was also interested in the idea to “start life” with Jessa, 33, as soon as possible. (Jessa was 21 when they said “I do.”)
“I really wanted to start a family and just begin that aspect of my life,” he stated.
Jessa and Seewald are now parents of six, welcoming their youngest baby in 2025.
