Jessa Duggar opened up about her plans to start a family during a recent interview, and the 19 Kids and Counting star revealed that she’s very interested in adopting a child. However, some Duggar fans might be skeptical about Jessa’s claim.
During an interview for the February issue of Celebrate Arkansas magazine, Jessa Duggar talked about expanding her family. She revealed that she’s interested in adopting and having biological children with husband Ben Seewald.
“We would love to have children of our own, and we would also love to adopt. It’s something we are constantly praying about,” Jessa said.
Jessa Duggar has talked about adoption before, but many 19 Kids and Counting fans don’t believe that a Duggar would ever adopt a child. According to Faith Goes Pop , this is because the Duggar family follows the teachings of religious leader Bill Gothard. He reportedly teaches his followers that adoption is not an option because the “sins of the parents” are passed on to their biological children.
However, it’s possible that the Duggars no longer subscribe to this particular belief. During a 2013 interview with PEOPLE , Michelle Duggar said that she and Jim Bob were considering adopting a child and were “praying about it.” Michelle also revealed that her children were pushing her to adopt, so the younger 19 Kids and Counting stars don’t seem to see anything wrong with it.
“The kids are definitely pushing towards wanting us to open our home up to another child or more,” Michelle said. “They see how much we have been blessed with and how little so many children have and they want to share. We tell our children that would have to be something that is God’s will for our family, and we will see if it is.”
Even though the Duggars seem somewhat open to the idea of adoption, 19 Kids and Counting fans would still be pretty shocked if Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald decided to adopt their first child — the Duggars do take great pride in reproductive skills. They also talk a lot about praying over the adoption option, which seems to suggest that they’re still somewhat unsure about it. There’s no evidence that Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar have ever seriously looked into adoption after talking about it, so perhaps they decided that the process wasn’t part of “God’s will” for their family. It wouldn’t be surprising if Jessa’s parents tried to talk her into having a biological child before making the decision to adopt one.
However, Jessa Duggar might not listen to her parents. During her interview with Celebrate Arkansas , she boasted that she’s a “bit of a noncomformist” who doesn’t feel bound by tradition. Unlike her older sister Jill, she doesn’t seem to be in any rush to get pregnant , and she and husband Ben Seewald might make a big move out of their home state of Arkansas before they decide to start a family. Ben plans to go into ministry, and he’s open to moving wherever this pursuit may take him.
“I love my state and l love our life here, but I think we are both ready to go wherever God calls us to go,” Seewald said. “We are just trying to be flexible and open to any new routes that our life might take.”
From the sounds of it, Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald aren’t quite settled yet, so now might not be the best time to expand their family. Do you think the 19 Kids and Counting stars will choose to adopt before they have a biological child?
[Image credit: Ben Seewald/ Facebook ]