Entertainment

The Younger '19 Kids' Aren't Dating Just Yet

by Kayla Hawkins

I've always been impressed by how quickly the Duggar family can plan a wedding. Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald got married over Halloween weekend after just a few short months of engagement. And now that three of the 19 Kids and Counting are married, are any of the other Duggars courting or on their way to getting engaged? Well, they could be, but none of the younger Duggars have made their courtships public knowledge yet. So they either want to keep their relationships private, they aren't interested in anyone at the moment, or they're focusing on their careers instead.

The Duggars' church only has a handful of members and even some of the families that their children have married into don't abide by the same strict lifestyle it dictates (which include provisions like women keeping their hair long and curly and men not having access to the internet because of "temptation"). One of their many rules about dating is that the parents should be involved in introducing potential courting partners to their children. So if Jim Bob meets an upstanding young person he believes would be a suitable match for one of his children, he would put them into contact and supervise while the two kids get to know one another. If they hit it off, they begin officially courting. But the three oldest unmarried Duggar kids seem pretty happy that way — and I hope they're not being pressured to change that.

Jinger

Jinger, long believed to be the one Duggar who could get away, still lives at home under her parents' rules, but hasn't given up her photography dreams. And she was the only one of her siblings who spoke up and admitted that she'd like to get out of the countryside and move to the city. Jinger doesn't settle, and that's awesome.

Jana

Jana, who doesn't spend much time in front of the camera, is also unmarried. But Jana, unlike Jinger, has spoken publicly and emphatically about wanting to get married and become a mom. But she's only 24, and even by Duggar "have as many kids as possible as fast as possible" standards, she has years to have a nice big family. For now, she's focusing on her career, recently changing paths from midwifery to working with an organization that takes teens on religious retreats.

John-David

John-David doesn't get talked about as much as his twin sister Jana, but even outside the Duggar bubble, the average age upon marriage is higher for men than women. However, he's focusing on his business, Duggar Towing, and hasn't confirmed whether or not he's courting anyone at the moment.

Have you noticed that every single public Duggar courtship has resulted in marriage so far? That's an impressive batting average. Of course, it's hard to date frequently when your parents look at all of your texts, an adult has to chaperone each date, and you can't do anything more intimate than side-hug. That weeds out a lot of potential dates — and there's no OK Cupid for the Duggar family, with their restrictions on Internet usage. Plus, Jill's relationship with her husband Derick started via text and Skype while he was a missionary in Nepal, so we may not be seeing any new Duggar significant others for a while if they're separated by thousands of miles.

But by the time we saw any courtships on the show, the relationship was pretty serious. So hopefully if we see Jana, John-David, or Jinger dating on 19 Kids and Counting, it means they've found their soulmate.

Images: TLC (4)