Jinger Duggar Vuolo has been very vocal in recent months about her upbringing, both from a TLC reality TV perspective and as a former believer of Bill Gothard’s IBLP principles. A formerly “devout” member of the community, Vuolo has spread her wings in recent years, moving to Los Angeles with her husband Jeremy Vuolo and their two kids and even becoming one Duggar lady who will wear shorts on occasion. Now, she’s opening up about growing up in the Duggar Family with all of its good stuff and bad stuff.
Jinger Duggar Vuolo has been doing press for a while after her book Becoming Free Indeed was published in early 2023. The mom of two recently met with Mayim Bialik for a podcast interview. In it, the Jeopardy! host made some comparisons between her own Judaism upbringing and the faith that Jinger followed. The two got into a discussion about the IBLP, her upbringing and her memories with Jim Bob and Michelle.
The 'Sad' Part Of Growing Up Duggar
Jinger said she currently sees ideals that Gothard taught – like not going into debt to buy a house and not believing in family planning, including natural family planning – to be destructive.
But there was a time she was very “devout.” She mentioned an incident in which her journal had been stolen from her room while 19 Kids and Counting was filming and how it led her to believe she couldn’t be “so raw” or honest about her feelings. But she says she bought into the IBLP in her teens, hook, line and sinker, noting.
At the same time, I would say in that season [of my TLC show], because it was like I had on these lenses that were viewing the world in a certain way. And I wholeheartedly believed it all. I don’t want to say, but in my circle I was like the most devout. I was so into these teachings. So if families were coming around and they didn’t do all this stuff, if their kids are rebelling I’d think in my mind, ‘They haven’t learned these principles yet have they?’ So I felt like, even as a 13, 14-year-old girl I had it mapped out, how my life was gonna go, how my kids were gonna be raised. And I would judge other people, even in my heart, for maybe sending their kids to a Christian school or for dressing in a way that I’d think would bring them damage.
It took a toll, however. In a separate portion of her conversation, Duggar Vuolo admitted that while her parents always made an effort with their kids, there was a part of her that struggled because she couldn’t name or identify why she was feeling “anxiety” and other emotions related to her upbringing. She’s previously identified the IBLP as bringing “fear” to her growing up experience.
My parents always said their kids were their hobby, so they would always seek to pour into us, have fun, take us along on little projects they were doing. Since he was in real estate, we would get to go to houses all the time… my parents sought to make it a happy home. I think when you look at the bigger picture of everything the sad part was for me that like, inwardly, I was wrestling with a lot of anxiety and fears.
Still, it wasn’t all so bad.
Sweet Memories Jinger Remembers Having With Jim Bob And Michelle
A lot of the discourse surrounding the Duggars over the last few years has dealt with pain and trauma. The Duggar women were thrust into the limelight after Josh Duggar’s molestation report broke, and Cousin Amy only recently shared her feelings over learning about Josh’s actions. He’s currently set to get out of prison on separate child abuse material charges in 2032, a prison release statistic Cousin Amy isn’t happy about either. His wife and seven children are also reportedly struggling as they no longer have financial support.
Meanwhile, Jill went on record about the “disturbing” religious environment the Counting On kids grew up in as part of her contribution to the Shiny Happy People documentary. Jinger didn't participate in Shiny Happy People, but she's spotlighted her experiences with her parents and the teachings the family followed in this interview and elsewhere.
Regardless, while there was bad stuff, the Duggar daughter says not everything was bad or painful about her childhood. In fact, she recounted one of many positive memories she had about growing up in Arkansas with the family.
There’s such sweet memories that I have. I will say, overall, I had a very happy childhood. My parents sought to pour into us. We had a lot of fun together. I remember long bike rides on Saturdays where we would line up in a straight row, try to stay as far off the street as possible, and you had like this trail of like 10 kids behind my dad. My mom would drive the van – the 15 passenger van – with this long flatbed trailer on the back. That way as we got tired we could throw our bikes on. Then we could hop in the van and she’d have snacks for us. I remember those sweet, fun memories together as a family.
Counting On has been off the air now since shortly after Josh Duggar's arrest in 2021, but the family has lived on in popularity through various YouTube and Instagram shares from the family. Interest in growing up Duggar is still at a high, and I'd be surprised if we didn't get to learn more from Jinger in particular about her upbringing in the coming months.
