50 Fun Facts About 19 Kids and Counting

Josh and Anna Duggar said they saved which romantic milestone for their wedding day in 2008?

Their first kiss waited for the ceremony; before then, hand-holding counted as a privilege and chaperones accompanied the couple wherever they went.

Which household product do the thrifty Duggars make at home from their own recipe to save money?

Laundry detergent is home-made, and the family also buys second-hand clothes, chops firewood for heat and pays only by cash or debit card.

Which Duggar daughter, the 19th child, was born prematurely in 2009 weighing under two pounds?

Josie spent about four months in hospital before she could join her brothers and sisters, and came home for good in June 2010.

Jeremy Vuolo, who married into the Duggar family in 2016, played which sport professionally?

Soccer took him from Finland's AC Oulu to the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer and then the San Antonio Scorpions.

Which childhood illness struck twelve Duggar children at once in 2010, delaying a trip home?

Chickenpox swept through the family just as they were packing to bring their premature baby home after months of hospital care.

Which 2023 documentary series examined the Duggars and the Institute in Basic Life Principles?

Shiny Happy People, subtitled Duggar Family Secrets, premiered in June 2023 and features Jill Duggar Dillard and her husband Derick.

Under which title did the Duggar family's reality series premiere in September 2008?

17 Kids and Counting was the first title; the name was updated twice as two more daughters were born in 2008 and 2009.

Which cable network aired all ten seasons of 19 Kids and Counting between 2008 and 2015?

TLC counted it as its most popular show, averaging 2.3 million viewers for each new episode in the tenth season.

What do the Duggars call their chaperoned alternative to dating, with couples meeting only in groups?

Courtship cannot begin without a parent's permission, and an interested man must first speak to the woman's father.

Which form of schooling do Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar use for all 19 of their children?

Homeschooling is the family rule, though Michelle once took several of the children to visit a public school for an episode.

Which Christian tradition do Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children follow?

Independent Baptist beliefs shape the show's themes of modesty and purity, including family rules against shorts and skirts above the knee.

To which Arkansas city did the Duggars move temporarily in 2010 to be near their baby's hospital?

Little Rock is home to Arkansas Children's Hospital, which cared for the premature baby, and the Duggars later joined a radio fundraiser for it.

To which city did Josh and Anna Duggar move from Arkansas in 2013 after Josh accepted a new job?

Washington, D.C., was a 1,200-mile move, and the rest of the family helped the couple pack before visiting them there for Thanksgiving.

Which Tennessee clan, led by father Gil and also raising 19 children, often visits the Duggars?

The Bates family got a special of their own in 2012 and later starred in a separate series, Bringing Up Bates, on Up TV.

Which two countries did the Duggars visit in the three-part 2013 specials titled Duggars Do Asia?

Japan and China meant stops in Tokyo, Kyoto and Beijing, where the family struggled with the subway on the way to Tiananmen Square.

Which profession did Jana and Jill Duggar study for in season 7, working beside a licensed mentor?

Midwives in training, the sisters even helped when a member of the television crew went into labour during a family trip abroad.

Which Fox News anchor interviewed Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar about the family scandal in June 2015?

Megyn Kelly's interview aired on June 3, 2015; daughters Jill and Jessa also spoke to her, and Jill later said she regretted taking part.

In which small Arkansas town near Springdale did the Duggars build their 7,000-square-foot home?

Tontitown is where building began in 2000 and finished in January 2006, with a television special recording the day the family moved in.

Jim Bob Duggar left the Arkansas House in 2002 to run unsuccessfully for which higher office?

United States senator was the goal, but incumbent Tim Hutchinson beat him in the Republican primary by 71,576 votes to 20,546.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are both licensed to work as agents in which line of business?

Real estate supports the household: the Duggars have said their income comes from rents on commercial properties they own.

Which two Duggar brothers, born in 1998, are the second set of twins in the family?

Jedidiah and Jeremiah arrived eight years after the family's first twins, a girl and a boy born in 1990.

Which Duggar daughter criticised her strict upbringing in the 2023 memoir Becoming Free Indeed?

Jinger, the sixth child, wrote about separating her faith from the fear-based teaching she grew up with, after marrying and moving to Los Angeles.

Which Duggar son's birth, as child number 15, was filmed for 2004's 14 Children and Pregnant Again?

Jackson arrived during the family's first hour-long television special, four years before the regular series began.

In which country was Derick Dillard a missionary when Jill Duggar and her father flew out to meet him?

Nepal hosted the meeting in late 2013, after the pair had got to know each other through supervised Skype and text conversations.

Which Christian movement favouring very large families do the Duggars say they are not part of?

Quiverfull takes its name from Psalm 127, a passage the Duggars themselves cited in an essay on why they have so many children.

In which country did the Duggars swim in the Dead Sea on the last stop of their 2011 World Tour?

Israel closed a trip that began in Scotland and Ireland and continued to London, where Jim Bob learned to drive on the left.

Which celebrity baker made the cake that revealed the sex of Josh and Anna Duggar's first baby?

Buddy Valastro, star of Cake Boss, supplied the cake; the baby, a daughter, was born at home later in 2009.

Which conservative lobbying group hired Josh Duggar in 2013 to run its political action committee?

Family Research Council's president said the hire would tap the popularity of the show; Josh resigned from the post in May 2015.

Which title did 19 Kids and Counting parents Jim Bob and Michelle give their second book in 2011?

A Love That Multiplies came from Howard Books, which had also published the couple's debut book in December 2008.

What official-sounding word do the Duggars use for each child's assigned household chores?

Jurisdictions were swapped for a day in one episode: the boys cooked, washed clothes and cleaned while the girls learned basic vehicle repairs.

Which minister founded the Institute in Basic Life Principles, an organisation the Duggars belong to?

Bill Gothard set up the institute in 1961 and stepped down in 2014 after dozens of women accused him of harassment.

Which material forms the frame of the Duggar family's Arkansas house, a build that began in 2000?

Steel frames were ordered as a pair, but one was drilled incorrectly, so a third arrived and was used for the girls' room and the industrial kitchen.

Which Kentucky attraction, showing dinosaurs beside Adam and Eve, did the Duggars visit in season 1?

Creation Museum was a stop on the drive to Ohio for a reunion of Michelle's relatives; the same episode revealed that baby 18 would be a girl.

In which Central American country did the Duggars volunteer at an orphanage in season 2?

El Salvador later became home for Jill and Derick Dillard, who moved there as missionaries in 2015.

Which Republican did Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar endorse for president in the 2008 primaries?

Mike Huckabee, a former governor of the Duggars' home state of Arkansas, got their backing; in 2012 they endorsed Rick Santorum.

To which city did Duggar cousin Amy move in 2014 specials to pursue a career as a singer?

Nashville saw Amy sing on the street for strangers and in a club for a record-label representative, with her mother and grandmother along.

Which Missouri city did the Duggars rush to in season 5 to help search and rescue efforts?

Joplin drew the family back a year later for a Mother's Day fundraiser in aid of the tornado's victims.

Which business did newlyweds Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar launch first after marrying in 1984?

A used-car lot came first and a towing business followed; neither of the pair, who married at 19 and 17, went to college.

On which occasion did Josh Duggar propose to Anna Keller, a moment caught by a hidden camera?

Her 20th birthday brought the surprise proposal, and Josh then took Anna to Arkansas to meet his family as his fiancée.

How did Ben Seewald stage his surprise marriage proposal to Jessa Duggar in August 2014?

A scavenger hunt led Jessa through the most memorable moments of their eleven-month relationship, and they married that November.

Which treat did Jill Duggar request for her 2014 wedding reception, only for a freezer to fail?

Root beer floats were put in jeopardy on a day run by hundreds of volunteers; sister Jessa later served ice cream sundaes in place of a wedding cake.

At which famous New York bridal salon did Michelle Duggar choose a dress to renew her wedding vows?

Kleinfeld, the Manhattan store followed by the series Say Yes to the Dress, dressed her as she and Jim Bob marked 25 years of marriage.

Which celebrity magazine published the 2006 police report that got 19 Kids and Counting pulled?

In Touch Weekly ran the report on May 21, 2015; the network pulled reruns the next day and cancelled the series that July.

Which cable channel aired the first Duggar specials, including 14 Children and Pregnant Again?

Discovery Health followed that first documentary with Raising 16 Children in 2006 and a cross-country road-trip special.

Which actor did the Duggars meet at a Christian film festival in San Antonio during season 2?

Kirk Cameron met the family there alongside the Von Trapp Children, and he later had dinner with Jim Bob and Michelle.

How did Jim Bob Duggar first meet his future wife Michelle in the early 1980s?

A church follow-up visit took him and a fellow church member to see her after her religious conversion; they married in July 1984.

The Duggars visited the Georgia set of which 2011 Christian film made by the Kendrick brothers?

Courageous producers Alex and Stephen Kendrick welcomed the family on set, while Michelle stayed behind to care for her youngest daughter.

Which pregnancy complication led doctors to deliver the 19th Duggar child by emergency C-section?

Pre-eclampsia was found after Michelle was rushed to hospital with gallstones, six months into the pregnancy.

What unusual clothing did Jim Bob Duggar choose for running the Run for a Child race in season 3?

Jeans were his pick; under the family's modesty standards, shorts and tank tops are off limits.

Which streaming service removed its entire back catalogue of 19 Kids and Counting episodes in May 2015?

Hulu acted as more than twenty advertisers, among them General Mills, Walgreens and Pizza Hut, withdrew their commercials from the show.