Over Memorial Day weekend, Joy-Anna Duggar married Austin Forsyth, and of course, the occasion was captured by a TLC camera crew.
At this point, you may be feeling that all these Duggar wedding specials are beginning to blend together.
After all, four Duggar women have gotten married in the past three years, and the courtships leading up to those marriages seem to be getting shorter and shorter.
But Joy-Anna is different from her sisters in that she’s considerably younger than they were when they tied the knot.
Joy is just 19.
Her husband is 24, and there’s been considerable amongst Duggar fans as to whether or not the age difference is problematic.
Five years wouldn’t seem like a lot if Joy and Austin were, say, 25 and 30, but there’s generally a big difference in maturity level between 19 year olds and 24 year olds.
And apparently it’s not just fans who fear that Joy might have enetered into marriage a bit hastily.
In an episode filmed when Joy and Austin were still in the courtship stage, older sister Jessa Duggar acknowledged that there’s been some concern amongst family members.
“Joy is 19, so she’s the youngest one of all of us girls so far to be in a courtship — and now on the edge of an engagement.”
“I think it’s sort of young, but she’s very mature for her age and they’ve known each other for a long time. So I think she and Austin are ready for this next step whenever it comes about.”
Viewers have pointed out that Austin seemed nervous while asking for Jim Bob’s permission to marry Joy.
They also noted that Jim Bob seemed to deliberate over the decision longer than he did when considering similar proposals from his other future sons-in-law.
The reason could be that Joy is not yet out of her teens, and even in the Duggar family, that’s extremely young to be walking down the aisle.
Of course, if Joy did mistakenly rush to the altar, it’s not as though anyone will ever know about.
Divorce is strictly forbidden by the Duggars’ religious beliefs, and it’s virtually unheard-of inn their community.
So for better or worse, Joy will be sticking with the decision she made in her teens for the rest of her days.
Watch Counting On online to relive Joy and Austin’s brief courtship.
