The former reality star said she may be done having kids after her fourth
Credit: Joy Forsyth/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Joy-Anna Duggar reflects on shifting family planning perspectives during her fourth pregnancy with husband Austin Forsyth
- She and Austin have started discussing whether they might be done having children after this pregnancy, Joy-Anna shared on her podcast, Call Your Sister
- Sister Jinger Duggar Vuolo also shared how her own views on parenting and family size have evolved over time
Joy-Anna Duggar is reflecting on her family planning and how it’s changed over time.
The 28-year-old daughter of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar is currently pregnant with her fourth child, and the pregnancy has put things in perspective for Joy-Anna.
After noting that she and her husband, Austin Forsyth, are “so excited” to be expecting a fourth child, Joy-Anna discussed the differences between this and previous pregnancies during an episode of her and Jinger Duggar Vuolo‘s Call Your Sister podcast.
“This pregnancy has been really different in a lot of ways,” Joy-Anna shared. “I feel like I don’t know if part of it is I just really am more sick, or I really am more tired. Or I don’t know how much of it is [it’s been] four years since having a kid, and my body’s like, ‘What is happening?’ ”
Credit: Joy Forsyth/Instagram
Joy-Anna, who is mom to Gideon, Evelyn and Gunner, said that the age gaps between her kids have previously been smaller, leading her to feel “like I’m starting over in a lot of ways.”
She said this time around she’s experienced round ligament pain since the first trimester, and morning sickness, which has carried into her second trimester.
These differences have led the former reality star to embrace her pregnancy this time around as she doesn’t know if it will be her last.
“I do think this time around, I am trying, even in the pregnancy, just trying to enjoy it,” she said. “Although it seems like it’s going so fast and it’s been harder, but I don’t know how many more times I’m gonna do this, so I’m trying to soak it all in.”
Her sister Jinger then asked if she plans to continue having babies after their fourth child.
“I don’t know,” Joy-Anna admitted. “Did you feel pressure to just have as many as you could? Because I feel like I felt that in our first pregnancy. And it’s something that Austin and I have had to have real conversations about because I feel like it’s something that’s really important.”
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In fact, Joy-Anna said her husband has also questioned continuing to grow their family.
“Austin, this pregnancy was the first time he was like, ‘You know what? We might be done after this one. Like, I don’t know. How do you feel about that?’” Joy-Anna shared. “We’ve actually started having those conversations, and it’s crazy to me that we might already be there. Like, we’re done with this phase of life. And so that part of it is bittersweet.”
Joy-Anna noted that she presently doesn’t feel like she’s done having kids, but she concedes that she doesn’t know what the future holds.
Jinger, who is mom to Felicity, Evangeline, and Finnegan, weighed in on the topic, saying she too has had a mentality shift.
“I was like, okay, as soon as you get married, you’re just gonna have kids until you hit menopause,” she said. “That’s just what you do. So anyhow, realizing that, okay, wait, children are a blessing from the Lord, but just because they’re a blessing doesn’t mean you have to have as many as possible. Then that was actually a different perspective for me.”
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This changing perspective has made Jinger and her husband Jeremy Vuolo rethink their approach to parenting, too.
“It actually gave me more joy going into having my kids because I was like, thank you, Lord, for these kids. They are a blessing,” Jinger explained.
“And so now with little Finny, he’s a year. And it’s crazy when you think about like, are we gonna have more? Are we not? I’m not quite ready yet [to decide].”
She added, “I think we have a lot that we’re juggling right now in this season and I want to see where we are. So we may be done. We may have more. I don’t know. We’re not like totally closed off to that idea, but also right now it does seem quite overwhelming.”
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