‘Counting On’ Alum Jessa Duggar Opens Up About Changed Views on Birth Control: It’s ‘Not Unbiblical’

A new outlook. Jessa Seewald (née Duggar) opened up about her changed views on birth control, after initially being prohibited under the teachings of the religious organization, Institute in Basic Life Principles.

“We are not against birth control,” Jessa, 30, explained via a YouTube video posted on Saturday, February 25. “Biblically speaking, there’s no category for birth control being wrong.”

Jessa went on to acknowledge that “birth control is a very broad term,” but that she and husband Ben Seewald are “not against preventing a pregnancy, or spacing kids.”

“We know the truth that children are a blessing from the Lord, but like with any blessing, it’s fine to manage that,” she continued.  

The former TLC star — who share children Spurgeon, Henry, Ivy and Fern — noted that they “don’t have a specific number of kids they are shooting for” but are taking it “one kid at a time.” 

“Ben loves kids, but his main concern is always for my health, giving me time to recover,” the 19 Kids and Counting alum continued. “So, we may have our perfect plan for perfect spacing or whatever, but it doesn’t always work out like that.”

That same day, the Counting On alum revealed that she suffered a miscarriage of baby No. 5 in late 2022. 

“Nothing could have prepared me for the weight of those words,” Jessica explained in another YouTube video. “I had really allowed myself to become so hopeful because the spotting had stopped. At that moment, I was just in complete shock. I didn’t even have words. I just immediately started crying. … Ben was there, and he put his arms around me.” 

Jessa was raised by parents Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar — who famously didn’t use birth control —under the non-denominational religious organization, Institute in Basic Life Principles.

The Christian organization, which was established by Bill Gothard in 1961, includes teachings on “male superiority and female obedience,” guidelines on how men and women should dress, homeschooling curriculums and Bible memorization, according to a July 2016 article in The Chicago Magazine.

Jessa isn’t the only one who has opened up about changing her views from the family’s former heavily engrained religious beliefs. 

Her sister Jinger Vuolo (née Duggar) discussed the organization in her book, Becoming Free Indeed, which was released in January 2023. In the memoir, Jinger opened up on “how she began to question the harmful ideology of her youth and learned to embrace true freedom in Christ.”

Ahead of her bombshell book, Jinger revealed her view on birth control had also changed following the birth of her daughters Felicity Nicole and Evangeline Jo with husband Jeremy Vuolo.

“I always thought that was totally wrong,” she explained. “I just no longer see it as that. I definitely have changed.”