Anyone who's watched TLC's 19 Kids and Counting, or Counting On, knows that the Duggar family
does things a little differently.
Kissing before marriage, booze, and women wearing pants are all strictly forbidden.
But having lots of kids?
Definitely a priority.
Four of Michelle and Jim Bob's adult daughters — Jill, Jessa, Jinger, and Joy — have
already tied the knot and are carrying on some of their parents' traditions.
Here are some of the strange ways Duggar marriages veer off the beaten path.
Marrying young
According to a 2013 report by The Atlantic, the average age of a first marriage was 27
for women and 29 for men.
But the Duggar girls wed at a much younger age.
Jill, the first Duggar daughter to tie the knot, wed Derick Dillard at age 23.
Sister Jessa married at age 21, and Jinger made it official at 22.
As for Joy, she said "I do" at just 19.
And it all could be due to the fact that the Duggars "court" rather than date.
Jim Bob explained to People,
"Courting is getting to know each other in a group setting, both families spending time
together and the couple setting goals together to determine if they are meant to marry.
With dating, a couple will often pair off alone and that sometimes leads to a more physical
relationship."
And up until the most memorable day of their lives, there's gonna be zero hanky panky.
No locked lips
While many Americans lose their virginity long before marriage, it's not uncommon for
religious followers to abstain from sex until they've tied the knot.
But the Duggars take it a step further, saving even kissing for marriage.
"Both go left, you both go fight.
You'll figure it out.
it's not that complicated."
According to the family rules, the girls all had their first kiss on their wedding day.
They can only "side hug" their dates, though they are allowed to hold hands once they're
engaged.
"I tell you what.
You can go ahead and give him a side-hug if you want.
30 seconds."
Jessa's husband, Ben, explained that he and his wife saved physical intimacy for their
wedding day, saying,
"From the outset of our relationship we had some physical boundaries that we tried to
set."
In order to stay true to their chastity vows, all dates, phone calls, and texts are overseen
by a chaperone — until they say "I Do."
Skirts before pants
While most American women wear whatever they please, in the Duggar family, ladies wear
only dresses or skirts at all times.
"I'm super into maxi skirts.
Love maxi skirts.
They're super comfortable."
Mama Michelle explained in a TLC blog post that after she became a born-again Christian,
she and Jim Bob discussed the best way for the women of the family to dress, saying,
"We really wanted to see what the scriptures said about [modesty].
Our interpretation was that from the neck down to the knee should be covered."
But social media went crazy when then-married Jinger was photographed wearing shorts in
2017.
After that, both she and her sister, Jill, were regularly spotted in pants, and even
Joy-Anna got in on the act, on her honeymoon.
However, none of the Duggar daughters who still live at home, including 28-year-old
Jana, have been spotted wearing pants…yet.
The more the merrier
As of 2015, the average family had 2.4 children, according to the Pew Research Center, but
all of the married Duggar daughters say they'll be happy with as many kids as possible.
Before her 2014 wedding, Jill told ABC News,
"Both of us want as many kids as God will give us and we've talked about adoption.
My parents have kept popping them out so we'll see how [our] fertility is!"
Before conceiving a honeymoon baby at age 19, Joy told People,
"We want as many as the Lord thinks we can handle.
And we are putting it into his hands."
Jill and Jessa each had two sons within their first four years of marriage, and Joy welcomed
her first child about 9 months after tying the knot.
Jinger is expecting her first baby in 2018 after a little more than a year of marriage.
Controversial couplings
Joy's husband, Austin Forsyth, hails from a family that's attracted controversy by hosting
events featuring so-called parenting experts Debi and Mike Pearl.
Their book, To Train Up a Child, advocates spanking kids with plastic tubing, and forcing
children to "fast" as punishment, according to The New York Times.
The book was even reportedly found in the homes of three children who expired of child
abuse.
Despite the controversy, the Forsyths have promoted the parenting book in advertising
for the event.
But more than one Duggar sister has consciously coupled-up with a controversial partner.
While gender equality may be on the minds of most Americans these days, Jinger's husband,
Jeremy Vuolo, believes women were created for the sole purpose of serving their husbands.
Jeremy wrote an essay,
"The first thing that God saw which was not good in His creation was that the man was
alone and, therefore, He made him a helper suitable to him!"
But Jill's husband, Derick Dillard, takes the title of the most controversial Duggar
son-in-law.
Once a fan favorite on Counting On, Derick lost the love when he posted a number of hot-button
comments to his Twitter page.
He took aim at Jazz Jennings, a 17-year-old transgender girl whose life was profiled on
TLC's I Am Jazz, accusing Jazz's parents and TLC of taking advantage of her, and refused
to call her by her preferred pronoun, writing, "Transgender' is a myth.
Gender is not fluid; it's ordained by God."
TLC then announced it would no longer work with Derick, and he, in turn, announced that
no one in his family would be appearing on TLC, including Jill.
Staying on the wagon
According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in 2015, 86 percent of
Americans over the age of 18 have consumed alcohol at least once in their lifetime.
And the Duggar ladies and their husbands definitely break with the norm by refusing any alcoholic
beverages.
All of the daughters threw dry weddings, and both Jinger and Jill have revealed on social
media that they drink sparkling juice for special occasions.
Mom Michelle is so opposed to alcohol that, in 2009, she and other family members protested
an Arkansas convenience store that had applied for a permit to sell beer.
The store's assistant manager told a local news station at the time,
"I was told the Duggars were there protesting it, and that Mrs. Duggar was up there crying.
And she said that she didn't want alcohol in her neighborhood or her town, so we got
turned down for it."
Looks like the apples don't fall far from the tree!
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