And central to viewers' fascination is the family’s matriarch, Michelle Duggar.
In short, her life is much more complicated and interesting than her cheery public persona suggests.
The tenets of Christianity and its offer of unconditional forgiveness to followers instantly resonated with her.
But inside, she was struggling: Like many teenage girls, she felt insecure about her weight.
Desperate to lose weight, she became bulimic, hiding her secret from even her closest friends and family.
She credits her courtship with Jim Bob Duggar for saving her.
Upon leaving her house, he silently prayed that she’d come into his life again.
Asthe Duggar family websiterecounts, this was just the lucky break he’d been waiting for.
“Yes, I know her!”
“And you should probably hire her!”
But another twist of fate was soon to test the young couple’s resolve.
Jim Bob knew that if was to hold on to her, he’d have to act fast.
He bought a $350 ring and tearfully asked her father for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
The Duggars' wedding, perthe family’s webpage, was a simple, homespun affair.
So for the first three years of their marriage, Michelle used birth control pills.
But sadly, Michelle miscarried early in her pregnancy.
But as Michelle Duggar found out, faith and family don’t always go together.
In particular, Michelle Duggar’s interpretation of her faith was problematic for her older sister, Evelyn Ruark.
“We are worried about them,” Callahan told The National Enquirer (per the Daily Mail).
‘We have often thought that Quiverfull is a cult.
It comes off as brainwashing to me."
And she has leveraged her life experience to position herself as an expert.
(The article has since been taken down, but is described in detailhere.)
But that was only the start of his troubles.
In 2021, he was arrested for possession of child pornography (perYahoo!
“Not one mention of these poor children that were victimized,” one commenter wrote.
And while Michelle Duggar continued to stand by her son,others in the Duggar familyhad finally had enough.
“Nobody is above the law.
