Kendra Caldwell Gave Birth 39 Weeks After Marrying Joseph Duggar and Fans Are Suspicious

While fans were congratulating Joseph Duggar and his bride Kendra Caldwell on welcoming their first child Garrett David Duggar yesterday, some of them became suspicious of the young couple’s timeline because Kendra gave birth exactly 39 after they tied the knot.

“No matter how many times we’ve experienced the joy of babies born in our families, there’s nothing comparable to the joy in our hearts today! Children truly are a gift from God. We are so thankful for his safe arrival and this new journey as parents,” Joseph, 23, and Kendra, 19, said in a joint statement.

While the Duggar fam was excited and happy about their newest addition, fans took to Twitter to speculate over Joe and Kendra’s wedding to baby timeline.

“Baby was born exactly [nine] months from their wedding date. Kinda suspicious,” one fan tweeted, while another user wrote, “All the grandchildren (the first ones of each couple at least) minus Jinger’s child are wedding night babies.”

The Duggar family practices a very conservative version of dating called courting. Kisses are banned until marriage (as are social media accounts, but that’s a separate story) and physical contact is limted to “side-hugs” so premarital sex is definitely out of the question, and it would be a huge scandal if a Duggar kid were to have sex before marriage.

“I feel like the female’s wedding dates are planned so they’ll be fertile on their honeymoon,” another user tweeted. And considering the human body’s gestation period — which generally caps out at 40 weeks — this user makes a valid point.

Kendra would have literally had to have gotten pregnant on her wedding night, Sept. 8, 2017, and then she would have had to deliver her baby one week early. Which begs the question: Are Duggar weddings planned around a woman’s menstrual and fertility cycle? It might seem crazy but with a handful of Duggars having wedding night babies, the question doesn’t seem unreasonable. Keep reading to see the full timeline of Kendra and Joseph’s relationship!

Joseph and Kendra met at church.

Their families ran in similar circles, thanks to their religious beliefs, so Joseph and Kendra knew each other long before they ever became an item and they actually met in 2012.

“I’ve known Kendra for about five years now and we met at their church,” Joseph said in an episode of Counting On… “We’ve been talking for close to six months. I guess we would call it more of a friendship stage,” he added at the time.

Joseph told People, “Our families are close friends through church and this has allowed Kendra and me to get to know each other.”

The couple started officially “courting.”

That “friendship stage” slowly evolved into a relationship with Joseph and Kendra making things official in March 2017. As a decoy, Joseph took Kendra to a car auction with their pastor then on the way home, they stopped at Joseph’s childhood home where he offered her a promise ring.

“Something just a little bit different,” Joseph said at the time. All other Duggar courtships were immortalized with a locket. “It pretty much says that I thought into it more than just kind of doing what the next guy does.”

(Photo Credit: TLC

On entering courtship, Joseph admitted on camera that he was anxious. “I am pretty nervous but I’m trying not to show it. I’m nervous to enter into a courtship,” he said. “That’s always something that every guy should be nervous about.”

After saying yes to the courtship, Kendra said, “I didn’t know you were going to ask me today. It means we can hug.”

Joseph proposed that May.

Only a few months after making their courtship official, Joseph proved he was eager to take things to the next level when he popped the question at his sister Joy-Anna‘s wedding the following May.

“I was definitely nervous going into it, but I wasn’t afraid that she was going to say no, because she has said, ‘I’m just waiting on you!'” Joseph told People following the engagement.

As she was after Joseph proposed courtship after the car auction, Kendra was appropriately shocked. “I’m so happy and so shocked,” she revealed. “There’s so many words I want to say, but just shocked. I had absolutely no idea.” Kendra revealed.

She added, “He had the ring in his pocket so when I went to go help myself and grab mints out of his pocket, he grabbed at his pocket and I pulled my hand away. But then I quickly forgot about it.”

The couple wed in September.

That fall, the couple married in a large ceremony that featured a 22-person wedding party. Joseph’s brother Josiah acted as the best man with John David, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, and Justin serving as the groomsmen. Kendra’s sister Lauren was her maid of honor, followed by 10 bridesmaids — Joseph’s sisters Jana, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joy-Anna, Johannah, and Jennifer among them.

Joseph and Kendra shared their first kiss at the altar.

“It is an amazing feeling to be husband and wife,” Joseph revealed. “It’s something that I’ve always dreamed of to have a wife and to raise a family in a way that honors the lord. We are to very excited to see what God has in the future for us.”

Since the wedding, Kendra has been very outspoken about enjoying married life. “One of the most enjoyable things about being married to Joe is just being together so much,” Kendra has said. “I can hug him, kiss him, talk with and be with him all the time. Being with your best friend make marriage amazing.”

Kendra and Joseph announce they’re expecting.

Two months after tying the knot, Kendra and Joseph announced Kendra’s first pregnancy with a special photo shoot. Kendra held a mug that read “Mom, established 2018,” while her hubby Joseph held a mug that read, “Dad, established 2018.” And the rest is history.

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