Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar hope that by airing the recent miscarriage tragedy of their 20th child will help other families and individuals coping with their own loss.
The super-sized reality family is back on TLC for a new season of their reality series, “19 Kids and Counting,” and upcoming episodes will show how the Duggars coped with the loss of 20th child, Jubilee.
“They were there filming us when he thought we were going to find out if we were having a boy or a girl,” Duggar dad Jim Bob told Access Hollywood on Monday, referring the couple’s December doctor visit where they found out they had lost Jubilee.
“It was something that we should allow them to film,” Michelle, 45 said. “We thought it was a way to help other families go through difficult situations.”
When it first happened, though, the reality TV parents dreaded sharing the difficult news with the rest of their brood.
“The hard part was going home to tell the children,” Michelle said of her 19 kids. “We had to tell them that the baby was gone and had died. It was a hard week, we just grieved and cried and our whole family pulled together.”
The devoutly religious couple told Access they feel blessed to have spent the little time they did with baby Jubilee and continue to try and keep a positive outlook on the road ahead.
Beyond talk of their emotional and tragic loss, the couple spoke to Access about their large brood, which has made many headlines due to its size.
When asked what’s best about having a big family – and also what difficulties they encounter — Michelle offered some observations to Access.
“The sheer fun of always having someone to talk to, play with, hang out with, run errands with, there’s always [someone] to do fun things with,” Michelle explained, but admitted to one major drawback of a mega-sized brood.
“Inevitably, one person cannot find one of their shoes!” she added.
Jim Bob said his giant clan is able to tear apart their home in no time.
“We can mess up the house in a hurry and just trash it up!” he explained. “But, we can clean it up in a hurry.”
And will Michelle and Jim Bob continue to expand their family?
“Looking into the face of those precious children, I would do it again,” Michelle told Access. “They’re precious, such a gift. I’m so grateful to have them.”
The new season of “19 Kids and Counting” premieres on February 14 at 9 PM on TLC.
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