Even if you don’t know much about the Duggar family, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with their incredibly strict courtship rules.
Parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are almost as well known for their extremely conservative views on dating and relationships as they are for their massive brood.
But the latest Duggar daughter to enter a courtship might be refusing to comply with her family’s stringent guidelines.
Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth announced their courtship back in November, and fans immediately got the impression that the relationship had been going on much longer than they were letting on.
Now, Radar Online is reporting that Joy-Anna and Austin have been an item for well over a year, and that they’ve boldly ignored her family’s courtship rules.
“Despite this ‘courting’ nonsense, Joy-Anna and Austin have actually been having sex together for a year,” says a source close to the family.
The Duggars not only forbid premarital sex, non-married couples aren’t permitted to engage in any kind of physical contact.
The insider says Joy-Anna and Austin made it clear from the start that they do not share her parents’ beliefs when it comes to sex:
“Jim Bob and Michelle can preach all they want about their children’s chastity, but the plain fact is that their kids are like anyone else’s; when they get to their late teens, their hormones are raging,” the source claims.
“Joy-Anna is no different, and she and Austin went way past the hand-holding stage a long time ago — and it led to them getting the fright of their young lives.”
As for the news that Joy-Anna is pregnant with Austin’s baby – predictably, the story’s been exaggerated, but the insider maintains it does have a factual basis:
“Joy-Anna believed that she had become pregnant by Austin,” says the anonymous family friend.
“Given her family’s beliefs, you can imagine the panic mode that followed for the duo.”
He adds:
“That was obviously a huge sigh of relief for everyone concerned, but it didn’t erase the horror for Jim Bob and Michelle that they had come closer than close to having another family scandal on their hands.”
Obviously, it’s insane to compare consensual sex between two adults to the scandal that ensued after the world learned that Josh Duggar molested five young girls (four of whom were his sisters), but in Jim Bob and Michelle’s eyes, anything that causes their fanbase to question the strength of their faith and the effectiveness of their parenting is a threat.
The Duggars have bizarrely cashed in on their kids’ sexual restraint, and the news that Joy-Anna refuses to remain chaste for her parents’ sake would constitute a tremendous blow to their reputation.
Their fears about being exposed as less pious than they’ve let on may help explain why Joy-Anna and Austin seem to be getting rushed toward the altar.
