Reality TV stars Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, the parents from TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, recently marked their 40th wedding anniversary — without public congratulations from any of their offspring as insiders exclusively tell In Touch the fractured family’s rift continues to grow.
“Jim Bob and Michelle try to downplay it but all the turmoil is taking a toll,” a source says.
As previously reported, their daughter Jill Duggar, 33, and her husband, Derick Dillard, 35, were banned from the famous clan for publicly defying the strict rules of fundamentalist Baptist patriarch Jim Bob.
Meanwhile, her sister Jinger Duggar Vuolo, 30, added to the family fallout when she slammed her family’s religious beliefs as “harmful” and “cult-like” and alleged the conservatives’ twisted teachings had left her “crippled with anxiety.”
The source adds, “Even though Jinger and Jill are the only two that have been really vocal about their anger toward their parents, it’s clear there are plenty of others in the family who aren’t too happy.”
Michelle, 57, and Jim Bob, 59, were devastated in 2021 when beloved eldest son Josh Duggar, 36, was sent to prison for 12 years for possessing child pornography. Yet the devout duo has sworn they’ll “never” stop praying for him.
Now, the source says, the couple is “feeling isolated” and “stressed” because their other children aren’t rallying around them.
“All they’ve tried to do is live righteously, and they’re being kicked to the curb,” the source says.
