Joy-Anna Duggar, her husband and two of her brothers posed for a cute pic this week, but all eyes were on the unborn member of the family.
Check out Joy’s burgeoning baby bump, people!
As always, her belly created an online firestorm.
Talk of Joy-Anna getting pregnant before marriage has circulated since … well, before her marriage, and especially after she got pregnant.
There had already been chatter about them breaking courtship rules, and they started a family in a hurry even by Duggar standards.
Joy announced she was expecting almost exactly 12 weeks after her wedding in late May of last year, and looked even further along.
Was it really a shotgun wedding to Austin Forsyth? We don’t know for sure, and likely never will, but the great due date debate continues.
Some fans say Joy-Anna Duggar’s due date is February 22, based on an online registry attributed to the 20-year-old Counting On star.
The family has only revealed that she’s due in late February or early March, while others insist that they have never officially said anything.
(There’s also a theory going around that Joy already gave birth, though the above photo would appear to have shot that nonsense down.)
In any case, the Forsyths, who share a joint Instagram account, posted the image of Joy-Anna on the far left cradling her growing bump.
She’s wearing a tight t-shirt and a smile, while husband Austin and two of Joy-Anna’s brothers also look to be having a good time.
They captioned the pic, “Hanging with the bros!”
That they are. Though almost no one seemed to think much about the other two guys (sorry, John David) in the comment section.
Joy also raised eyebrows when she remarked that the pregnant Jinger Duggar would be giving birth just six months after her.
That math doesn’t quite match up with the timeline offered by the Duggars and their end-of-February-or-start-of-March claims.
As for the registry date? Assuming that’s her “official” due date, it’s less than nine months after her wedding, but not by much.
The simple fact that she’s pregnant at this moment pretty much disproves the shotgun wedding theory, as we’re now in February.
It’s almost certain that there was no rescheduling of her nuptials, as rumored, although certain skeptics still remain unconvinced.
From a numerical aspect, February 22 is 37 weeks from her wedding night, and a typical pregnancy is approximately 40 weeks.
However, that 40-week date is typically calculated from the date of the woman’s previous period, so it could very well be the case.
In any case, the matter is far from resolved, and the couple has not commented on any shotgun wedding/premarital sex chatter.
Obviously, the only reason this is even a story is the fact that the Duggars pride themselves on their courtship rules and restraint.
There are no full-frontal hugs allowed before engagement, let alone sex; Joy and Austin would be breaking family protocol hard.
Only time will tell if the birth of their first child sheds any light on this debate, or if it remains an ambiguous mystery long afterward.
