A History of the Ups & Downs of the Duggar Family

Growing a family

James Robert "Jim Bob" Duggar and Michelle (née Ruark) married on July 21, 1984, just weeks after Michelle's high school graduation. 

Throughout their marriage, they welcomed 19 children — all with names beginning with the letter "J" nearly every year from 1988 through 2009. The Duggar brood consists of Josh, Jana, John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn-Grace and Josie.

Initially, the couple waited four years to have their first child, Joshua. After Josh was born, Michelle resumed using oral contraception but became pregnant again. She miscarried her second pregnancy, which the couple said occurred because Michelle was taking the pill. Following the trauma, they swore off birth control forever and decided to "let God bless them with as many children as he saw fit."

Josie's own ups and downs

Jim Bob and Michelle's youngest child, Josie, arrived nearly three months early on Dec. 10, 2009. She survived several health setbacks, including a series of seizures at age 5.

On her 9th birthday, the family reflected on her health, sharing that Josie "is a healthy, happy 9-year-old that is full of energy."

Seeing their family grow

Many of the Duggar offspring are married. In 2022, 11th-born Jeremiah and Hannah Wissmann tied the knot on March 26. The couple welcomed their first baby, Brynley Noelle, on Dec. 25, with Jeremiah joining the ranks of his siblings, who have all started families of their own.

Josh has seven kids; Jill, Joseph and Joy-Anna each have three; John David and Jinger each have two; Jessa has four and Josiah has one.

A shocking scandal

On May 21, 2015, In Touch Weekly released a 2006 police report that revealed Josh was investigated as a teen for molesting five underage girls — four of which turned out to be his sisters. TLC canceled the family's show, and Josh issued an exclusive statement to PEOPLE in 2015 in response to the reports. 

"Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably, for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends," he said. "I confessed this to my parents, who took several steps to help me address the situation. We spoke with the authorities, where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling."

Months later, on Aug. 19, 2015, Gawker reported that Josh appeared to have had active accounts on Ashley Madison, a website created to facilitate extramarital affairs. Following the exposé, Josh confessed to having a pornography addiction and cheating on his wife, Anna, in a public apology on the Duggar family website.

"I have been the biggest hypocrite ever," the eldest Duggar kid wrote. "While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife."

He continued, "I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him."

On Aug. 25, 2015, Josh checked into a faith-based rehab center in Rockford, Illinois. Following his stay, he returned home to Arkansas, where he continued counseling and began marriage therapy with Anna.

"It isn't easy, and some days are very difficult. It is a long road to rebuild trust and a truly healthy relationship," the couple said in a joint statement in 2016.

A bond broken

After the disturbing revelations of 2015, Josh's sisters Jill and Jessa came forward as two of his victims.

In a 2015 interview on The Kelly File with Megyn Kelly, Jill and Jessa said the family had long moved past the situation and hadn't ever planned to address it until they found out the allegations would be on a magazine cover.

"I see it as a re-victimization that's a thousand times worse because this is something that was already dealt with," said Jill of the release of the felony investigation. "We've already forgiven Josh. We've already moved on."

"We didn't feel like there was any need to share private information with people who weren't part of the problem or the solution," Jill added. "We had dealt with that when the investigation with our family was closed. After all those months, they said, your parents have done an amazing job — they were praising our parents — and found [our] home was a safe place for children."

Taking time apart

In 2020, Jill and her husband, Derick Dillard, told PEOPLE they had been distancing themselves from the Duggar family after leaving their spinoff show, Counting On.

"Our control to choose what jobs we were allowed to accept and even where we were allowed to live was taken away from us," Jill said, adding that goals they'd had as a couple were squashed if they conflicted with the network or family's plans.

Dillard, who was then in his final year of law school, elaborated, "The first few years of our marriage, we spent time and money working towards opportunities only to hit a dead end when we'd be told, 'Well, you're not allowed to do that.'" The COVID-19 pandemic also influenced their decision to take time for themselves.

"Our threshold — we like to call it — is a little bit lower in this season of life for us," Jill said in 2021 in a Q&A video on YouTube. She and her husband and two sons have "a lot going on for [them] in [their] own lives."

Of the couple's choice not to set foot in the Duggar family home for several years, Dillard said, "There's a lot of triggers there."

Josh gets arrested

On April 29, 2021, U.S. Marshals arrested Josh and charged him with receiving and possessing child pornography, "some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, all in May 2019," according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arkansas. 

He pleaded not guilty and faced up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each possession count.

Just days before his arrest, Josh and Anna had announced they were expecting their seventh child together.

Josh is sentenced

On Dec. 9, 2021, a jury found Josh guilty of child pornography charges. In May 2022, he was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison and was ordered to pay fines and special assessments of $50,100. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks decided his release would be followed by 20 years of supervision, and he would be prohibited from any unsupervised contact with minors, including his own children.

Before the sentencing, Michelle penned a letter to the judge, stating, "Joshua has a tender heart, and he is compassionate toward others." His wife Anna did the same and said her husband was a "loving, supportive and caring father."

Michelle and Anna's support prompted cousin Amy (Duggar) King to share her thoughts on Twitter. 

"Sickened by the news lately." she wrote. "I have so much to say leading up to the sentencing and I'm not afraid anymore."

After posting on social media, Amy issued an exclusive statement to PEOPLE opposing Michelle and Anna's actions. 

"I don't think anyone would make the mistake of assuming I support my cousin," she wrote. "I'm struggling to even find the words to express how angry I am. I'm angry at my cousin. I am deeply disappointed in him as a person. But let me tell you, I am furious at the family that looked the other way and, still today, refuse to hold him accountable."

She concluded her statement urging Anna to divorce Josh, writing, "In my opinion, 20 years could never come close to justice for the children harmed ... My heart hurts for his children during this time."

The Duggar family exposed in docuseries

The upcoming Prime Video docuseries, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, will explore the Duggar family's scandals and ties to the religious organization Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) and its founder Bill Gothard.

In PEOPLE's exclusive first look at the trailer, former IBLP members tease a discussion of the church's principles of homeschooling, patriarchy and misogyny, along with the Duggars' role in promoting its fundamentalist views.

"Josh Duggar is really the tip of the iceberg in this group," one of the series' executive producers, Olivia Crist, exclusively told PEOPLE in May 2023.

"The IBLP teachings aren't Christianity," a woman in the trailer explains. "They're something entirely different."

The trailer also reveals cousin Amy, Jill and husband Dillard's involvement on the series. As a teary-eyed Jill sits beside her husband, holding his hand, she says, "There's a story that's going to be told, and I would rather be the one telling it."

Executive producer Julia Willoughby Nason told PEOPLE the documentarians "hope [the] series encourages people to find their voice and to speak out and be brave and take the risk and have a new type of faith."

"Even though we show a dark side of a shiny veneer, we hope that there's also light at the end of the tunnel in terms of having a place to land gracefully if people decide to step out and are still in any shape and form of abuse out there," Nason said.

Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets premieres June 2 on Prime Video.