Rumors that Jill Duggar is pregnant with her second baby have been circulating pretty much since the day she gave birth to her first one.
This time, however, Jill is giving fans reason to speculate by posting a photo that appears to be cropped in order to conceal a baby bump:
The image shows Jill with Derick Dillard and son Israel just before church on Easter Sunday.
Many fans have commented that she seems to be wearing a maternity-style shirt, though it’s difficult to tell without being able to see more of her outfit.
Obviously, the Duggars are a family that likes to procreate, so why would Jill hide her pregnancy from the public?
Well, for starters, she and Derick are currently performing missionary work in Central America – a region that’s currently being ravaged by the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
It’s unknown what, if any, impact the virus has on adults, but its effects on the children of infected mothers are devastating.
For a while, it was rumored that Jill and Derick would return home to avoid the risk of infection, as women living in their part of the world have been cautioned to avoid getting pregnant for at least two years.
That’s an unthinkable prospect for a young, newlywed Duggar, but it seems that Jill and Derick are sticking it out.
There have been rumors that the Dillards have even received special permission to violate church’s teachings and use birth control, though obviously that’s not the sort of matter the couple will be discussing publicly any time soon.
Whatever the case, many believe that part of the reason that Jill and Derick have decided to stay put is that they received a tremendous amount of backlash from fans the last time they cut a mission trip short.
Here’s hoping the Dillards fear of bad publicity won’t lead them to take any major health risks.
