On Sunday, Kendra Caldwell and Joseph Duggar welcomed their first child.
It was a joyous occasion, of course, but based on some fan reactions to the announcement, the Duggars may be experiencing an unwelcome case of deja vu.
Back in August of 2017, Joy-Anna Duggar announced that she was pregnant with her first child just three months after she married Austin Forsyth.
Fans believed she looked like she was further along in photos, and it wasn’t long before “shotgun wedding” rumors were everywhere on social media.
The family managed to avoid commenting on those reports, but now it seems they may be in for a second round of uncomfortable questions.
The Duggars announced the news that Kendra had given birth with an ecstatic Facebook post.
“No matter how many times we’ve experienced the joy of babies born in our families, there’s nothing comparable to the joy in our hearts today!” they wrote.
“Children truly are a gift from God. We are so thankful for his safe arrival and this new journey as parents.”
Most of the comments from fans were congratulatory, but as In Touch Weekly points out, a few followers pointed out something that they found rather suspect.
“Baby was born exactly [nine] months from their wedding date. Kinda suspicious,” one fan tweeted.
“All the grandchildren (the first ones of each couple at least) minus Jinger’s child are wedding night babies,” another remarked.
Jinger famously waited more than a year to get pregnant after marrying Jeremy Vuolo, an extremely uncommon practice in the Duggars’ community.
Obviously, it’s impossible to know exactly when the other Duggar couples conceived, but they all started families very soon after marrying.
Joseph and Kendra married back in September of 2017 following a very brief courtship.
The family announced that Kendra was pregnant less than three months later.
Anyone who’s familiar with the Duggar courtship rules knows that couples aren’t even allowed to kiss before marriage, much less engage in actual intercourse.
And it’s for that reason that these situations are regarded with such suspicion.
It’s not uncommon for the Duggars to abruptly change the date of a wedding, a practice that they claim is an effort to protect their privacy, but which fans believe is the result of premarital pregnancies.
Whatever the case, the fact remains that the majority of Duggars get right to the business of making a family after they say “I do.”
Of course, we suppose that’s not terribly surprising.
For one thing, the Duggars are forbidden to engage in premarital sex, and they’re not permitted to use birth control.
Add to that the fact that women are taught from an early age that procreation is pretty much their sole reason for being, and it’s not hard to see why Duggar babies tend to arrive about nine months after their parents get hitched.
As for whether or not said parents tend to jump the gun a bit … well, it’s hard to say.
The Duggars will never admit to a premarital pregnancy and for a family who’s famous for putting their lives on TV, they do an impressive job of guarding their privacy.
Watch Counting On online to remind yourself of just how strictly and creepily Jim Bob and Michelle govern their kids’ sex lives.