Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald on consummating their marriage, baby plans and where they’ll live

The way the Duggars talk about intimacy is somewhat paradoxical. By saying they abstain from kissing and sex until their wedding days, there is much more media scrutiny on what they actually think about doing those deeds. Case and point: Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald were directly asked in the new edition of Star how they feel about having sex after their Nov. 1 wedding… Who else in the public eye is ever asked questions like that? Still, they both had something to say about it!

“We’re super excited,” said Jessa. “Marriage is a wonderful thing.”

Ben added, “It’s a great gift from God. We’ve been waiting and waiting, and now we’ll get to enjoy that gift.”

Speaking to Us Magazine in a different interview, Jessa said she and Ben were both inspired to wait until marriage by looking at the examples set by their parents.

“In today’s day and time, it’s a little bit strange to be in our early twenties and have not had sex… But it’s how our parents did it,” she explained. (Technically, both sets of their parents married in their teens and Ben is just 19.)

The couple said they also don’t have any fears about awkward silences during non-intimate moments, even though the haven’t had any one-on-one time throughout their courtship.

“We always have chaperones, but they don’t sit in on all our conversations,” Jessa said. “We have private talks, and I’m sure it’s going to be awesome… Communication is very important. It’s something we’ve really tried to build, since we are limiting the physical side of the relationship.”

Besides, neither anticipates there will be much alone time… At least in a year or so.

“We’re both open to children and looking forward to starting a family of our own. We also really want to adopt,” Jessa said.

Agreeing adopting “is definitely” one of their goals, Ben said he plans to support his family with ministry.

“Right now, I’m doing my property maintenance for Jessa’s dad,” said Ben, who also takes online college courses. “My goal is to get involved in ministry, maybe as a missionary or more of a pastoral role on the front lines doing speaking engagements.”

Jessa said they plan to remain in Northwest Arkansas for the next few years, but are ultimately open to moving to “wherever God leads.”