Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar’s Redemption Arc Starts With Them Getting Real

As of this writing, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s Instagram account hasn’t been updated since May 2022, when they welcomed the birth of their grandson Truett Oliver, the first child of son Jedidiah Duggar. In the months since Truett has become a big brother to baby Nora Kate, but you wouldn’t know it from social media. They also haven’t commented on the births of Brynley (daughter of son Jeremiah Duggar) and Gunner (son of daughter Joy-Anna Duggar), the December 2023 birth of daughter Jessa Duggar Seewald’s fifth child, and the pregnancy news of Jeremiah and his wife Hannah Wissman Duggar. Plus, there are the long-rumored “secret Duggar babies” of sons Josiah and Joseph Duggar. 

For nearly eight years, the Duggars also raised Michelle’s great-nephew Tyler Hutchins (seen above on the far right), whose mother and grandparents were unable to take care of him. In June 2023, Jim Bob and Michelle surrendered custody of Tyler back to his grandparents after they filed a petition asserting that they were the more suitable guardians. Again, the news went unreported; the Duggars’ website still includes Tyler in the “Meet Our Family” vertical. 

The custody situation may not be resolved yet either. According to The U.S. Sun, in December 2023, Tyler’s grandparents hired another attorney to plead their case. The least Jim Bob and Michelle can do is be more transparent about the basics of their family. Even putting some recent photos on their website would be nice. Youngest daughter Josie Duggar turned 14 in 2023, for instance, but online she’s perpetually a preteen.