Joy-Anna Duggar Turns 21, Celebrates In True Duggar Fashion!

While fans debate over whether Joy-Anna Duggar is already pregnant again, she hit a very different milestone.

Over the weekend, the young mother turned 21 years old.

That birthday is a huge deal, but being a Duggar, Joy-Anna’s celebrations were a little different from what you’d expect.

Sunday, October 28, was Joy-Anna Duggar’s 21st birthday.

Did she go wild, take her first real sip of alcohol, and let loose?

No, of course not. She is a Duggar, and they are essentially never allowed to do anything that might risk having real fun.

(There are lots of ways to have fun without drinking, folks! But the Duggars aren’t allowed to do most of those, either)

As you can see in her photo with Jill, Joy-Anna doesn’t have any red solo cups at her party.

In fact, it doesn’t look like she even whipped up a virgin cocktail.

Now, a gathering at home with a big ol’ balloon isn’t all that Joy-Anna did.

Her husband and a couple of her brothers took her — and baby Gideon — out to eat.

Given the fact that they posed in front of Longhorn Steakhouse, many have guessed that they got some sort of discount.

(The Duggars are notorious for using social media to advertise where they eat in exchange for discounts or other kickbacks)

Going to a fairly normal restaurant might not be the birthday treat that you’d expect from a family of wealthy celebrities.

But the Duggars go out of their way to seem more down-to-earth than their income bracket suggests.

Joy-Anna did not limit her pre-birthday celebrations to home and a restaurant.

Seizing upon the opportunity to travel as a group, she and her brothers went to participate in early voting.

In case you’ve been harboring illusions to the contrary, she made it very clear on her Instagram which political faction has her support.

“We Early voted!!” Joy-Anna announced in her captions.

She then included the tags: “#govote” and “#republican.”

Joy-Anna’s followers were not surprised.

Many of them were also not happy.

“She is giving us the middle finger!” one responded.

Another commented: “Good reason to unfollow.”

“Didnt know yall are republican,” one naive follower wrote in surprise.

Yet another commenter wasn’t shocked at all, writing: “They’re obnoxiously pro-life, they love guns, and are extremely against LGBT community.”

Joy-Anna’s visit to Longhorn Steakhouse also attracted some attention.

This time, the conversation was less about the contents of her midterms ballot and more about the contents of her womb.

Is Joy-Anna pregnant again?

From the way that she held baby Gideon in front of her belly, some wondered if she was hiding a baby bump.

But there is another, more likely, and less bonkers explanation for Joy-Anna’s current shape, folks.

Baby Gideon was, in medical terms, “super f–king huge.”

Okay, so we’ve all known babies who were more than 10 pounds, but it’s still a huge size for a baby.

And Gideon was the largest Duggar baby, ever.

It takes time for a body to recover from pregnancy.

The extreme post-baby body selfies from the likes fo the Kardashians can make you forget that.

Joy-Anna didn’t drink at her birthday because she’s a Duggar, not because she’s pregnant Again. Probably.

View Slideshow: Joy-Anna Duggar Gives Birth to BIGGEST Duggar Baby After Traumatizing Labor

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Joy-Anna Duggar: Pregnant Again ALREADY?!

Say what you will about the Duggars, when those folks set their mind to a task, they tend to see it through.

Of course, if you have the misfortune to be born a female Duggar, the only tasks you’re allowed to participate in are getting knocked up and praising Jesus.

Joy-Anna Duggar welcomed her first child, a boy named Gideon, back in February.

But fans are convinced the 20-year-old is already expecting a second bundle of joy.

As is always the case with this sort of thing, the speculation is based on very scant evidence.

In fact, as far as we can tell, a bunch of people jumped to this conclusion with nothing more than Joy’s latest Instagram pics to prompt them:

“I see a pregnancy announcement soon!! I have a feeling!” commented one follower

“Me too I see a baby bump,” remarked another.

Needless to say, it’s a lot of speculation based on very little proof.

It’s possible that Joy is engaging in some visual obstruction — but it seems far more likely that she’s simply holding a baby.

But some fans offered a different explanation for why Joy might be attempting to conceal her midsection.

“It takes a lot more than 6 months to lose baby weight,” one fan remarked.

“She had a huge baby bump because she had a 10 pound baby.”

Yes, little Gideon entered the world at a full 10 pounds.

The little fella captured the coveted title of the biggest Duggar baby to date.

And we probably don’t need to tell you he’s had a lot of competition for that title.

Being the number one anything in a group that size is impressive.

And the Duggars are not the type to hire nannies, so it’s not as though the new mom has had a ton of time to work out in recent months.

Joy has yet to respond to the rumors that she’s expecting, and this is one of those situations where fans are taking her silence as a tacit confirmation.

What seems more likely, however, is that she simply doesn’t take the time to respond to every single rumor about the state of her uterus.

After all, Duggar pregnancy rumors are like Trump tweets.

They pop up on social media every day, and at a certain point, you just have to ignore them.

View Slideshow: Joy-Anna Duggar Gives Birth to BIGGEST Duggar Baby After Traumatizing Labor

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Joy-Anna Duggar: All the Men in My Family SUCK!

Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Gideon, back in February.

But since reality television takes time, we’re just now seeing all the good baby stuff on Counting On.

We’ve seen Joy-Anna talk about her plans for a home birth, and then when she went into labor, we saw her dramatic rush to the hospital once her midwife told her the baby was breach.

She ended up having a c-section, a little Gideon turned out not to be so little — at birth, he weighed 10 pounds and 3 ounces.

After watching all that on the show, we’re now at the point where we get to see Joy and Austin actually caring for their new baby.

And as you can see in this new clip from this week’s episode, it’s turning out to be a little more difficult than they thought it would be!

Joy-Anna Duggar: Look How Cute My Baby Is!

As the video begins, the new parents are preparing to give their son a bath in the kitchen sink, and they say that he usually enjoys the process.

Joy, who’s looking about as exhausted as you’d expect the mother of a newborn to look, also says that she’s been having to wake Gideon up during the night to feed him, because he doesn’t wake up to eat on his own.

A producer tells Austin that when his own kid was born, he was “freaked out” for the first few nights, and Austin could relate to that.

“The first week it was, ‘Is the baby breathing?"” he recalls. “I would just lay there and see if I could hear it, and multiple times I got out of bed, you know, making sure it was breathing.”

“I think I’m finally coming to the realization that there’s always going to be something for the rest of my life, and the rest of his life.”

Because, as he acknowledges, “that’s just part of my job as a dad.”

When Joy has her turn to speak with producers, she admits that “Being a mom is, in a lot of ways, easier than I thought and then, in a lot of ways, harder than I thought.”

She says that she knows her mom, good ol’ Michelle Duggar, “had gone through a lot with all of us kids,” but that she didn’t think having a kid of her own would be “that hard” because she’d always helped to take care of her siblings.

“It’s given me a whole new appreciation for moms out there that have kids,” she adds.

Next, Austin reveals that he’d never changed a diaper before his son came along, but that since Joy had a c-section and wasn’t as able to “get out of bed much,” he had to step up and take care of business.

He actually says that Joy only changed about five diapers during the first two weeks, so it sounds like he really was taking over diaper duty.

“Austin really stepped up,” Joy confirms, “especially since I had a c-section. I couldn’t really hardly get up at all by myself.”

“He had to help me up and I mean, do all the dirty work, for me and for the baby, and just … I mean, he’s amazing.”

And then, and this is the super interesting part, she adds that “I haven’t ever seen a guy give so much of himself for his wife.”

It’s interesting because the Duggar family is very, very close, and Joy has seen a lot of interactions between married couples.

There’s Jim Bob and Michelle, Josh and Anna, Jill and Derick, Jessa and Ben, Jinger and Jeremy, Joseph and Kendra, Josiah and Lauren …

So in all of those marriages, she’s never seen a man take such good care of his wife?

Also, Austin took care of his kid and his wife after his wife had a pretty major surgery, which is great, obviously, but it’s also just what a spouse should do, you know?

Is she saying that the men in her family wouldn’t take care of their children if their wives weren’t able to do it?

Because that kind of sounds like what she’s saying.

View Slideshow: Joy-Anna Duggar Gives Birth to BIGGEST Duggar Baby After Traumatizing Labor

Come on, Duggars, if you can’t do better, at least do the bare minimum.

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Joy-Anna Duggar Opens Up About Difficult Child Birth: I Could Have Died!

It’s been five months since Joy-Anna Duggar welcomed her first child.

At the time, it was reported that the birth did not go according to plan, and Joy-Anna was rushed to a nearby hospital, despite her intention to deliver the baby at home.

It’s not the first time that a Duggar woman was forced to abandon her plans for a homebirth, but Joy-Anna’s case sparked greater interest among fans than those of her older sisters,

In the corners of the internet that are devoted to all things Duggar, fans speculated that Joy-Anna’s delivery went seriously awry.

There were rumors that Jill Duggar had served as midwife, even though she lacks the proper qualifications for the job.

Some even went so far as to claim that Joy nearly lost her life.

On tonight’s episode of Counting On, Joy-Anna will open about the complicated delivery and share previously undisclosed information with her many curious fans.

 

The episode finds Joy-Anna and her husband, Austin Forsyth, meeting with their midwife in the weeks before Joy-Anna gave birth.

“I want to have all the options available, but I’m not sure,” says at one point.

“We want a home birth, we’re going to try, but we’re not going to risk mom and baby’s life,” says Austin.

“I’m just having to remind myself not to let the fears and anxiety things take over and just prepare as best as I can and be flexible at the same time,” a very anxious-sounding Joy remarks.

Yes, it seems that Joy-Anna had her doubts about a homebirth from the very start.

Asked by producers for her feelings on the situation, Joy had this to say:

“My thoughts right now? If you ask me, I mean, they change. Sometimes I’m like, ‘I’m ready for this, I can do this!’ And then sometimes I’m like, ‘Why am I doing this?’

“It changes. But right now, I’m excited and I’m ready and I want to have this baby as soon as it’s ready to come out.”

She added:

“I really wanted to at least try it, and we’re only about 30 minutes from the hospital, so it’s not too bad in case of an emergency or a change of plans.

“[I’m feeling] somewhat nervous, trying not to be scared, but just prepared.

“I know that it’s going to painful, there’s going to be a lot of emotions, but I know Austin is going to be there to support me.”

The bad news is, the homebirthing option proved to not be viable and Joy-Anna had to be rushed to a hospital.

The good news is, once she was there, she delivered a happy, healthy baby boy.

These days, Joy is loving new motherhood, and baby Gideon is getting bigger by the day.

Watch Counting On online to get caught up in time for tonight’s new episode.

View Slideshow: Joy-Anna Duggar Pregnancy Raises One Huge Question

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Joy-Anna Duggar Faces "Greatest Fear" in This Scary Video

The countdown to a new season of Counting On is… well… on.

When this TLC favorite returns with new episodes on July 30, fans will go behind the scenes of Joy-Anna Duggar’s first-ever birth.

If you’ll recall, she and husband Austin Forsyth welcomed a very large boy named Gideon into their world in February, just about 39 weeks after they got married.

It was a blessed occasion for the newlyweds, of course, who announced the addition to their immediate family as follows:

“We are blessed beyond measure with the arrival of our son, Gideon Martyn Forsyth.

“Looking at our child for the first time was such an incredible moment! God is so good, and we are both so thankful.”

But while this event took place months ago, viewers Counting On will have a chance to relive it in a few weeks.

Indeed, Joy-Anna’s frightening labor and birthing experience will be featured on the first new episode of this summer.

“As we get closer to the birth I think there’s a lot of emotions, somewhat nervous. A little scared,” Joy-Anna says a sneak peak obtained and published by People Magazine.

As is the case for all Duggar women, Joy-Anna had originally planned home birth.

However, after being in labor for more than 20 hours, her midwife determined the baby was breech. Hence, the need for an emergency C-Section.

That’s a serious surgery.

“Seeing my wife in pain, that was probably about the hardest,” Forsyth says in this clip.

“Having a C section is my greatest fear,” Joy-Anna says simply.

Counting On Sneak Peek: Joy-Anna Duggar Has a C-Section

Thankfully, Gideon is a happy and healthy little boy.

Duggar has since shared a photo of the child, ignoring all the scandalous chatter over whether she and Austin had a shotgun marriage because she got pregnant while engaged.

As for what else fans can expect from new installments of Counting On?

– A look at Josiah Duggar’s courtship with Lauren Swanson.

– Joseph Duggar and Kendra Caldwell’s honeymoon and subsequent pregnancy announcement.

– Jinger (Duggar) Vuolo’s exciting reveal that she’s expecting her first child with husband Jeremy Vuolo.

“There’s never a dull moment in our family,” Jessa Seewald has said.

And this is true.

Love the Duggars or find their lifestyle appalling, this is definitely true.

Prepare to actually see the moment this summer when Josiah proposed to his now-wife as well, with Josiah and Lauren Swanson having only just gotten married.

“This is definitely the time and she is definitely the one. I’m just hoping I can say everything right,” he says above, before the trailer teases the exact moment when he gets down on one knee.

Counting On returns July 30 on TLC.

View Slideshow: The Duggar Family: A Timeline of Endless Weddings

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Joy-Anna Duggar & Kendra Caldwell: Check Out Our Matching Babies!

Folks, a full-on Duggar baby boom is in effect.

In case you’ve been having trouble keeping up with all the births, pregnancies, and rumored pregnancies, here’s a brief rundown.

Back in February, Joy-Anna Duggar gave birth to her first child, a boy named Gideon Forsyth.

Earlier this month, Kendra Caldwell and Joseph Duggar welcomed their first, a boy named Gideon Duggar.

The upside of so many births taking place in such rapid succession is that the kids will never want for companionship as they grow up.

The downside, however, is that these babies better enjoy being the center of attention while they can!

Currently, Jinger Duggar is expecting her first child, and there have been rumors that Jill Duggar is pregnant with her third.

By our estimation, the planet will be roughly 73 percent Duggar by the time you finish reading this sentence.

We kid, of course.

It’s a wonderful thing that the Duggars are welcoming so many bundles of joy these days.

And, of course, fans get to share in the baby bliss thanks to photos like the one above.

That’s Joy on the right and Kendra on the left, both with G-named babies in arms.

Now, we’re sure there are parents of newborns who are currently zipping down to the comments to inform us that there’s a world of developmental difference between a four-month-old and a two-week-old baby.

But what seems like a chasm now will be a microscopic fissure for most of the boys’ lives.

In all likelihood, Gideon and Garrett will be in the same grade at the same school.

(We suppose it’s possible that their parents might relocate, but we all know Jim Bob bribes his kids to stay in Arkansas.)

For the most part, it seems that the new generation of Duggars will be maintaining tradition by sticking close to one another and raising cousins like siblings.

Of course, it seems that in some ways, they’re already doing things their own way.

For example, Kendra gave birth in a hospital, instead of at home with a midwife, as is customary for Duggars.

If you think that doesn’t sound like a big deal, clearly you don’t remember the uproar when Jinger started wearing pants.

These people aren’t exactly huge embracers of change.

Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family.

View Slideshow: Duggar Family Members: The Official Power Rankings!

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Joy-Anna Duggar Rocks Short Skirt, Shocks Fans

These days, much attention is paid to the “rebel Duggars” – those offspring of Jim Bob and Michelle who have rejected some of the more asinine rules that characterized their ultra-strict upbringings.

But there’s a contingent of the family’s loyal basis that’s far more interested in the stories of Duggars like Joy-Anna, who have eagerly adhered to just about every single aspect of the fundamentalist belief system with which they were raised.

These fans saw their faith tested with reports that Joy-Anna got pregnant before getting married to Austin Forsyth, but most have stood by her side and dismissed the allegations of premarital sex as unfounded rumors.

While her sisters have taken to wearing pants, sporting nose rings, and even flaunting temporary henna tattoos, Joy-Anna Duggar has mostly stuck to the conservative customs and traditions that have helped to make her family famous.

She married young, started a family right away, and for the most part, she adheres to the rules of the famous Duggar dress code.

Of course, while Joy might be a wife, mother, and Duggar first, she’s still a 20-year-old young woman.

Which means fans shouldn’t be shocked if she occasionally gives in to the temptation to show a little calf.

The above photo of Joy, along with her husband, Austin Forsyth, and son, Gideon, appeared on Instagram over the weekend.

“Happy Mother’s Day to my lovely bride! She never has ceased to amaze me with her character and love for our Savior!” reads a caption posted alongside the pic.

Joy and Austin share a joint Instagram account, so we’re gonna go out on a limb and assume he wrote that one.

Of course, it’s not the loving husband’s kind words that have captured fans attention but rather, Joy’s attire.

If you’re a longtime fan of the family, then you’re no doubt aware that Duggar women generally favor floor-length skirts made of heavy fabrics like denim.

The fact that Joy is sporting a just-below-the-knee hemline in a lighter fabric is being taken by many as an indication that she’s slowly parting ways with her family’s infamous dress code.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Joy is still adhering to the Duggar guidelines for “modest dress” here.

Jim Bob’s daughters are instructed to wear long skirts, but the preference for floor-length is the result of an abundance of caution.

Joy is still sticking to the rules here, but many fans think this pic signals the start of a slow move toward greater independence.

Comments on the photo have been mostly complimentary, which might be enough to nudge tomboy Joy toward taking a greater interest in fashion – even if that means disregarding some of her family’s famous guidelines.

Watch Counting On online for more on reality TV’s most controversial family. 

View Slideshow: Joy-Anna Duggar Pregnancy Raises One Huge Question

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Joy-Anna Duggar Talks Motherhood, Marriage: I Can"t Stop Smiling!

Duggar women are raised to believe that the primary reason they were put on this planet is to put more people on this planet.

It’s a central tenet of the “quiverfull movement” – of which the Duggars are devout adherents – that Christians should focus all their energy on the “be fruitful and multiply” passage of the Bible.

And it seems no Duggar female is more committed to testing the limits of her uterus than Joy-Anna Duggar.

Joy, you may recall, unveiled her sizable baby bump just three months after marrying Austin Forsyth.

The one event followed so closely on the heels of the other, that many began to suspect that Joy had gotten pregnant before her wedding, which would’ve been the stuff of scandal, as premarital sex is a major no-no for all Duggars.

(Yes, they’re not allowed to have sex at all before marriage, and once they’re hitched, they can only have sex for purposes of procreation. These folks have seriously antagonistic relationships with their genitals.)

We might never get a satisfactory resolution to the great debate regarding Joy-Anna’s “shotgun wedding,” but whatever the timeline, it seems the 20-year-old newlywed is loving every second of first-time motherhood.

Joy gave birth to her first child – a boy named Gideon – back in February, and ever since, she’s been gushing about the lad every chance she gets.

She posted the above photo to Instagram this week in order to mark the occasion of Gideon turning two months old.

“We love you Gideon!” Duggar captioned the pic.

“You make your dad and I smile SO much.”

It’s a pretty standard Duggar baby update, but in Joy’s case, it was greeted with more enthusiasm than usual.

Joy and Austin have both been uncharacteristically quiet on social media the past few weeks, and because Duggar obsessives scrutinize the family’s every move, some took it as a sign of trouble in paradise.

It turns out, however, that Joy and Austin have actually been busy spreading the word of how awesome their marriage is.

Yes, it seems the Forsyths have been doing something called “giving testimony,” which means they’ve been speaking to assembled groups of young folk about how marriage has brought them closer to God, or something.

We guess if there is an advantage to making people wait until they’re hitched to knock boots, that’s it:

They’re much more likely to feel that marriage is totally the best thing on the freakin’ planet.

Watch Counting On online for more on reality TV’s most controversial family.

View Slideshow: Joy-Anna Duggar Pregnancy Raises One Huge Question

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Counting On Preview: Joy-Anna Duggar"s Pregnancy Fears Revealed

It"s been less than one month since the latest Counting On season finale left fans clamoring for more of the TV"s favorite fundamentalists.

Fortunately, the Duggar faithful won"t have to wait very long for another round of pregnancies, courtships, and bizarrely specific dress codes. 

So what"s in store for Jill, Jessa, Jinger, and the rest of the J-squad this time around?

Well, while most reality shows begin to show signs of age when they"ve been on as long as the Duggars have, there"s certainly no shortage of drama in Tontitown.

The exact release date has yet to be announced, but TLC has confirmed that Counting On will be back sometime this summer.

And a new preview for the upcoming slate of episodes reminds us that as more of Jim Bob and Michelle"s children enter adulthood, change is now the only constant in the Duggar family. 

The upcoming season will address such matters as the pregnancy of Joseph Duggar"s wife and the courtship between Josiah Duggar and Lauren Swanson.

But it"s the scenes focusing on Joy-Anna Duggar that have really captured the interest of fans.

As you"ve likely heard, Joy-Anna welcomed her first child back in February, but because of production lag times, the final months of her pregnancy will be featured on the upcoming season.

And it looks as though there were some frightening complications that are just now being revealed to the public.

Check out the preview below to see what"s in store and watch Counting On online to get caught up in time for the summer premiere

 

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Joy-Anna Duggar & Austin Forsyth: Dark Relationship Secrets Revealed (Exclusive)

Earlier this week, reports that Austin Forsyth had behaved abusively toward his wife, Joy-Anna Duggar, made their way across the social media landscape.

The allegations were based primarily on what Counting On fans had witnessed both on the show and in web exclusives posted by TLC.

To be clear, Austin has not been accused of physically abusing Joy-Anna, but viewers who claim they’re able to recognize the signs from firsthand experience say that Austin has repeatedly demonstrated behavior that’s typical of men who perpetrate emotional and verbal abuse.

A former employee of the Duggars who spoke exclusively with The Hollywood Gossip tells us that many who know the Forsyth family best would not be the least bit surprised to learn that Austin is sometimes overly-harsh in his interactions with his young wife.

Our source claims that like Joy, Austin was raised in an extremely strict household.

And it seems the harsh lessons he learned from his overbearing father may have irreparably damaged the young man’s views on relationships:

“His father governs everything that he does, from cutting cows to doing whatever,” the source tells THG, adding that Terry Forsyth offered his son a bizarre ultimatum when Austin requested permission to begin courting Joy:

“He couldn’t date Joy-Anna until he flipped five houses,” the insider says. “Austin had to flip and sell five houses before he’d be allowed to date.

“He went to his dad, and he said, ‘What do I need to do?’ and his dad said, ‘You need to flip five houses before you can court."”

Though Austin was already a grown man at the time, such parental demands are not entirely uncommon in the Duggars’ world, a place where there’s no such thing as casual dating, and courting is viewed as a prelude to marriage.

However, like the man himself, Terry’s request of his son was viewed as unnecessarily harsh.

But even before he set such a difficult challenge before Austin, Terry was something of a controversial figure around the Springdale, Arkansas community:

“Terry, he’s on his second marriage, and I still haven’t figured this one out yet, he’s an officer in Paul [Caldwell]’s church, and you can’t be an officer in the church if you’ve been divorced,” the source tells us.

“Austin is a prime candidate for mental abuse, because I’m sure he’s been totally mentally browbeat.”

The insider elaborates:

“I guarantee [Joy] is at his beck and call. To me, she really has no life with Austin. She’s just gonna be a baby factory.”

Fortunately, the source says, Joy is so highly-regarded in her hometown, that if Austin ever crosses the line into physical abuse, he’ll pay dearly.

“If he does abuse her in any way, there won’t be nowhere he can hide,” the informant tells us.

As for the question of whether or not Joy got pregnant before marriage, our source says those who know the couple best believe there’s a distinct possibility those rumors are true.

“She’d been alone with him several times. They got caught several times,” says the tipster.

“I caught them kissing outside the garage door one night. They were standing in this little area where the cameras weren’t, and she went up and kissed him.

“I yelled out, ‘What’s going on over there?’ I mean to tell you, they ran like scared rabbits,” our source says.

The insider continued:

“About an hour later I was in the garage, and Austin came up to me and said, ‘We’re only human, you know.’

“I said, ‘I know you’re human. But when you make rules, you need to follow them."”

On the question of whether or not Joy and Austin broke the rules of courtship in more serious fashion, the insider says:

“She may have had sex before they were married.

“She ain’t no sexpot, don’t get me wrong, but she was ready to be married.”

Asked for a final impression of Austin, our source said simply:

“He doesn’t have a backbone. He doesn’t have a whole lot of common sense.”

It sounds like Austin should have no trouble getting along with some of Jim Bob’s other sons-in-law.

Watch Counting On online for more on reality TV’s most controversial family.

View Slideshow: Joy-Anna Duggar Pregnancy Raises One Huge Question

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