Considering the Duggars’ views on birth control and having “as many children as God will give” them, I fully anticipated that newlywed Jill Dillard would be on the road to motherhood by the end of the year… Still, I was quite surprised when, just eight weeks after their wedding, she and husband Derick Dillard announced they were expecting.
Speaking to Page Six this week, Jill acknowledged that revealing a pregnancy when just six weeks along isn’t common. However, despite the increased risks of miscarriage within the first trimester, she and Derick felt there was good reason to make the announcement.
“Believing that every life is precious no matter how young, we decided to share our joyful news as soon as we could,” Jill, 23, said.
In late 2011, Jill’s mother, Michelle Duggar, miscarried her 20th child when she was 19 weeks along. Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar held a memorial service for the baby, whom they posthumously named Jubilee Shalom Duggar. In Growing Up Duggar, the book she co-wrote with sisters Jana, Jessa and Jinger, Jill said the experience of losing Jubilee “underscored our belief in the value of each life.”
“We have seen how God used Jubilee’s short life and our big family’s love-filled reaction to her death to remind people of the true value of life, born and unborn,” said the four oldest Duggar daughters, who are all staunch pro-life advocates.
Jill is due to give birth in March 2015.
