Joy-Anna Duggar Says Parents, Siblings Had a ‘Super Hard’ Time During Jill and Jinger’s Book Releases

Joy-Anna Forsyth (née Duggar) admitted that her parents, Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, and siblings had a difficult time accepting that her sisters Jill Dillard (née Duggar) and Jinger Vuolo (née Duggar) wrote books about their upbringings and evolving religious views.

While appearing on the Wednesday, October 16, episode of the “Unplanned” podcast, Joy-Anna, 26, was asked about reading both Jinger, 30, and Jill’s books. While Jinger released Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear in January 2023, Jill, 33, published Counting the Cost in September of that year. Both books expressed their issues with the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), which the Duggars were raised to follow.

Following the release of both books, Joy-Anna told fans via social media that reading about her sisters’ experiences “rocked her world” and she was asked to elaborate on the realization during the podcast. “I’ll probably get emotional because I always get emotional about this kind of stuff,” she said.

Joy-Anna then explained that she had a difficult postpartum experience after she welcomed son Gunner with husband Austin Forsyth in May 2023. “It was, like, the darkest time of my life,” she said, adding that it was both “super good” and “super hard.”

After noting that the “hormones were super, super hard for her,” she admitted that she felt like her “family was falling apart.”

“My siblings and my parents and all this stuff was super hard at that time,” the former Counting On star said through tears. “So I came to a point where I was just like, ‘What is even real? What do I believe?’ All this stuff.”

She said that reading both Jinger and Jill’s memoirs made her question her own religious beliefs, noting that Austin, 30, had a previous experience with his faith beforehand.

“It was good and I can see now, looking back, how much God grew me in that season, but I do feel like Jinger’s book, specifically, just talking about just your faith and God and taking it from more of, like, ‘What can I do?’” Joy-Anna continued. “We grew up with so many standards and I was great at keeping all of these standards and my parents never preached one time that it was, you do all these things and then God will accept you, but that’s how I took it personally, and so, my whole life, I was like doing all these things and … my whole Christianity was always a checklist.”

Joy-Anna said that her original views of religion came “crumbling down” when the books came out, adding that she had to work through her approach to religion.

“I feel like Jinger’s book, I’ve listened to it and I’ve talked to her a lot, and I had a lot of really good counselors in my life and I went and actually saw a counselor for these issues, and that was really good,” she continued, adding that Austin “really encouraged” her to explore her faith.

Joy-Anna concluded the topic by explaining that her sisters’ books helped her explore her own faith and remove it from the “fear-based” ideas she used to have. “It’s a journey and I’m still searching things out,” she said.