Breaking away from the traditional family playbook, Counting On alum Jason Duggar and his wife, Madison “Maddie” Grace, are charting their own path. While marrying into the Duggar family typically signals an immediate countdown to a pregnancy announcement, the newlyweds have made it clear they are in absolutely no rush to expand their household. In recent appearances on their YouTube channel and a family podcast, the couple candidly opened up about their decision to put baby plans on hold—a choice that comes at a time when the extended Duggar family is grappling with yet another wave of legal and public drama.
Breaking the “Baby Bomb” Tradition
Jason, the 12th of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 children, tied the knot with Maddie in a picturesque Tennessee mountain ceremony back in October 2024. For decades, the norm for Duggar couples has been to announce a pregnancy within the first few months of marriage. However, Jason and Maddie are firmly slamming the brakes on that expectation. “We are not expecting at all. We are not trying to be expecting,” Maddie shared directly, hoping to shut down rampant internet speculation. Jason echoed the sentiment, playfully warning viewers, “Stop saying we’re expecting.”
“We do not want to have kids for a while,” Maddie Grace added. “I love kids but I don’t want any right now, and I want to savor this and just get to know each other.”
Learning from Sibling Regrets
Jason’s own experience of being one of 19 kids has influenced their decision making. “I do love that my parents, I think that their calling really was having all 19 kids, I really do believe that, and they’re such incredible parents, but for us, we also want to enjoy every stage that the Lord has us in,” he said. “We want to be able to travel too, travel around the world, do a bunch of things, and it’s tough to do that when you have kids. Even some of the couples in my family have said, ‘Hey, we wish that we maybe would have maybe waited a little bit, that way we could travel and do different things,’ and so that’s something we both really want to do,” Jason added.
The pair traveled to Greece and Italy on their honeymoon and shared in the video that they’d like to return to Europe for their first anniversary. Jason said he’d also like to visit all 50 states and Israel with his wife. Once the two are ready to have kids, they’re not interested in having as many kids as Jason’s parents did. “I would say my max is six, and that’s pushing it,” Maddie Grace said. “I mean, we did get the question, ‘Do you guys want 19 kids?’ Absolutely not.”
Even though she has different plans for her own family, Maddie did express admiration for her mother-in-law, Michelle. “That’s too many [kids] for me,” she said. “I think your mom is an absolute angel for being able to do that because I couldn’t.”
Since becoming a couple, Jason and Maddie Grace have challenged many of the rules set in his conservative Christian upbringing. The pair admitted to dating, not courting, and even kissing before marriage in their YouTube video. “Growing up in my family, that was against the rules, but for Maddie Grace and I, that’s not a conviction that we have,” Jason said. “I love my parents, I think they’re great people, but it’s a rule that we set for ourselves in our relationship, through dating and engagement, and it was something we were OK with.”
Distancing from the IBLP and Recent Family Drama
The couple’s choice to pace themselves isn’t just about travel and text books; it also marks a distinct cultural shift. Fans on platforms like Reddit have noted that Jason and Maddie have publicly distanced themselves from the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP)—the strict, fundamentalist organization his parents raised him in, which strongly discourages birth control and promotes having as many children as possible. This desire for autonomy and a quieter life comes during a turbulent period for the family. The Duggars have faced a fresh wave of public scrutiny following shocking new legal troubles and arrests involving other family members, including Joseph Duggar.
In a recent statement, Jason and Maddie took a firm stand regarding the ongoing family drama, making it clear they do not share the same rigid “convictions” as Jason’s parents. Observers note that by intentionally delaying children, the young couple is successfully building a protective boundary around their new marriage, choosing to establish their own foundation far away from the chaotic cycle of reality TV fallout.
Do you think more of the younger Duggar siblings will follow Jason’s lead and break away from the family’s traditional timeline?
