Duggar family show

19 Kids and Counting, formerly 17 Kids and Counting and 18 Kids and Counting, is an American reality television show that airs on TLC. The show is about the Duggar family, which consists of parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children, nine girls and ten boys (including two sets of fraternal twins), who all have names beginning with the letter "J". The Duggars are conservative Christians.

Family

Parents

James Robert "Jim Bob" Duggar - born July 18, 1965 (age 45)

Michelle Annette Duggar (née Ruark) - born September 13, 1966 (age 44)

Children

Name Date of Birth Notes

1 Joshua James "Josh" March 3, 1988 (age 23)

2 Jana Marie January 12, 1990 (age 21) Birth via C-section

3 John-David

4 Jill Michelle May 17, 1991 (age 20)

5 Jessa Lauren November 4, 1992 (age 18)

6 Jinger Nicole December 21, 1993 (age 17)

7 Joseph Garrett January 20, 1995 (age 16)

8 Josiah Matthew August 28, 1996 (age 14)

9 Joy-Anna October 28, 1997 (age 13)

10 Jedidiah Robert December 30, 1998 (age 12)

11 Jeremiah Robert

12 Jason Michael April 21, 2000 (age 11)

13 James Andrew July 7, 2001 (age 9)

14 Justin Samuel November 15, 2002 (age 8)

15 Jackson Levi May 23, 2004 (age 7) Birth via C-section, featured in a Discovery Health special

16 Johannah Faith October 11, 2005 (age 5) Birth featured in a Discovery Health special

17 Jennifer Danielle August 2, 2007 (age 3) Birth featured in a Discovery Health special

18 Jordyn-Grace Makiya December 18, 2008 (2 years 5 months) Birth via C-section

19 Josie Brooklyn December 10, 2009 (1 year 5 months) Birth via emergency C-section, featured in a TLC special

Other family members

Jimmy Lee "J.L." Duggar (February 3, 1936 – February 9, 2009 (aged 73)) – Jim Bob's father

Mary Duggar (born May 26, 1941 (age 70)) – Jim Bob's mother

Deanna Jordan (née Duggar) – Jim Bob's sister (and Amy's mother); married to Terry Jordan; a former actor and singer

Amy Rachelle Jordan (born September 30, 1986 (age 24)) – Jim Bob's niece (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); a country singer (sang "Amazing Grace" during the closing credits in the episode about her grandfather's death)

Anna Renée Duggar (née Keller) (born June 23, 1988 (age 22)) – Josh's wife; grew up in Putnam County, Florida; the fifth of eight children

Mackynzie Renée Duggar (born October 8, 2009 (1 year 8 months) – Josh and Anna's first child

Garrett Floyde Ruark (December 7, 1924 – June 18, 2010 (aged 85)) – Michelle's father (only appeared in one episode); his wife Ethel passed away in 1991.

Special guest appearances

Say Yes to the Dress October 2009 – The family helps Michelle pick out her dress for her vow renewal

The Today Show (NBC, numerous appearances between 2007 and 2011)

Larry King Live February 19, 2009 & April 13, 2009 (CNN)

The View (ABC)

Fox & Friends 2007 (Fox News Channel)

Huckabee August 1, 2009 (Fox News Channel)

CNN's American Morning 2008 & 2009

The Early Show 2006-2008 (CBS)

Overview

The family (who live in Tontitown, Arkansas) originally appeared in several TLC and Discovery Health one-hour specials, most of which focused on four of Michelle's last five deliveries.

Jim Bob has one older sister, Deanna, whose daughter Amy occasionally appears on the show. Jim Bob and Michelle first met when Michelle experienced a religious conversion and Jim Bob, along with another church member, were sent for follow-up visits. They were married on July 21, 1984.

The Duggars elected to delay having children and practiced birth control. It was four years before Josh, their eldest child, was born. They then resumed using birth control; despite precautions, Michelle conceived again but suffered a miscarriage. Believing the miscarriage was due to the contraceptive, the Duggars quit birth control. 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 every year and a half, Michelle gave birth.

The Duggars are conservative Baptists, and due to their fundamentalist biblical beliefs, they practice the following: The only television the family watches is Christian programming on DVDs, and Internet use is restricted. The male family members keep their hair cut short (by cutting their own hair to save money), while the females keep their hair long. The children are home-schooled using a mix of materials, including those of Switched On Schoolhouse, IBLP, and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). The children are discouraged from dating, but rather undergo courtship, wherein all meetings between a couple include a chaperone, and the couple abstains from physical contact and intimacy until marriage—except for holding hands and Christian side hugging. And the young man seeks permission from the young woman's father to become engaged.

The Duggars raise their children using a buddy system, wherein an older sibling is assigned to a younger sibling and assists in their primary 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 day and just all of those types of things. In 2004, Michelle Duggar won the "Young Mother of the Year Award" in Arkansas, which is sponsored by American Mothers Incorporated.

Jim Bob served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. The Duggars' income is derived from the commercial properties they own. They live debt-free, 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 650 square meter (7,000 square foot) house was built by the family itself over the course of three years with minimal assistance from friends, primarily in the form of instruction. The home was completed on January 20, 2006. The painting, decorating, furnishings, appliances, and other finishing touches, such as a stocked pantry, were provided by Discovery Networks and corporate sponsors as part of the one-hour television special. The work on and completion of the house were the focus of a one-hour television special entitled 16 Children and Moving In.