Who Is Kendra Caldwell? What You Need to Know About Joseph Duggar’s Wife

The Duggar family can’t stop growing! While the oldest siblings have welcomed a bunch of baby boys and girls the last few years, now even some younger Duggar kids are getting married and starting families. For example, back in September 2017, Joseph Duggar and Kendra Caldwell finally tied the knot, and now they’re parents to not just one, but two little ones.

A frequent guest star on Counting On, Kendra, 21, came into the brood as a family friend of her now-husband’s parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. Kendra became a quick fan favorite, but she also stirred up drama with rumors that she’d dated Joe’s brother Jedidiah before him. Meanwhile, the Duggars also took some heat of their own for allegedly pushing their strict religious rules onto their new daughter-in-law.

Want the full dish on Kendra? Check out our guide below.

She hails from Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Just like the Duggars, Kendra is an Arkansas native. She grew up in Fayetteville, just about 10 miles away from her future husband’s hometown of Tontitown.

She had a religious upbringing.

Kendra’s parents, Paul and Christina Caldwell, are people of strict faith. In fact, her father is a pastor at the Lighthouse Baptist Church, where the Duggars frequently attend. Fans may recall meeting Paul on the episode of Counting On where Joe asked for his permission to propose. The patriarch, only in his early 40s, caused a stir amongst fans with his handsome looks.

Her family has experienced controversy.

Pastor Caldwell came under fire in 2014, when his church distributed flyers reportedly questioning if God loves LGBT people. Around that time, he also announced he would run for the Arkansas state representative seat, with plans to reduce taxes and “protect the lives of the unborn.” Josh Duggar promoted his campaign on Twitter at the time.

Follow my friend: @PaulGCaldwell. He is a Pastor who is running for State Representative in District 90 in Arkansas. #conservative #leader

— Josh Duggar (@joshduggar) February 10, 2014

She has a bunch of siblings.

Kendra is one of eight children. Her siblings are: Lauren, Micah, Nathan, Timothy, Olivia, and Jesiah, and a new baby brother, Isaiah. Kendra’s mom was actually pregnant with her youngest while Kendra was pregnant with her first child. Lauren has regularly appeared alongside her sister on the TLC show and sparked courting rumors.

She recently joined social media.

In February 2019, she and husband Joe finally gave in and joined social media, creating an Instagram called @littleduggarfamily. “We finally decided to get social media!” they shared in their first post. “Still trying figure out how it works. 😆 Looking forward to keeping y’all updated on our little family. 💙💙💙”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BucZrNVFsc8/

She met Joe through family.

As mentioned above, the married couple first met at her father’s church, through their parents. They knew one another for six months before announcing their courtship in March 2017. He then proposed at sister Joy-Anna Duggar’s wedding that May and the two tied the knot on September 8, 2017.

She’s now a mother-of-two.

Kendra and Joseph welcomed their first child, a son named Garrett David, in June 2018. Less than a year later, following some serious speculation from fans, the couple announced they were expecting again.

“We are ready to double the fun at our house!” they said in April 2019. “Being parents has already proven to be a greater joy than we had hoped or imagined. We love getting to parent together and are loving every moment and milestone.”

The duo welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Addison Renee, on November 2, 2019. “She made a quick arrival in the early hours of the morning and has already melted our hearts,” the pair told Us Weekly at the time. “We know Garrett is going to be a great big brother. Children are each a special gift from God and we are so happy our newest blessing is here.”