Jessa Duggar is not here for any criticism about her pregnancy journey — or her large family.
“When it comes to people saying negative opinions, I know this is not the case for everyone, but for me personally, I’ve never had anybody walk up to my face and be nasty,” Duggar, 32, said in a Thursday, May 8, YouTube video. “I have heard a lot of rude and unnecessary comments, but generally those are just online.”
Jessa, one of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 children, has often seen remarks claiming that she and husband Ben Seewald are “breeding like rabbits” or questioning whether they are “trying to follow in [her] mom’s footsteps.”
“I’m not going to have 19 kids, but honestly, my mom is my hero. I love her, I adore her [and] she is my role model in so many ways,” Jessa, who is currently pregnant with her sixth baby, said. “Her patience, her love, her gentleness [and] her kind speech. She is the golden example of a mother, in my opinion. So, when people say, ‘Do you want to be like your mother?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, please, Lord, help me.’”
The Counting On alum further stressed that she never received any of the so-called “nasty” messages to her face.
“I know some people do have to put up with a lot of that flak or feedback from people who are close to them, just giving their opinion without being asked for it,” she said. “I think that would be way harder, but thankfully, that hasn’t been my experience.”
Jessa went on to share a helpful tip about navigating negative comments.
“Some advice that I recently heard on this topic that was super helpful to me was somebody was saying that oftentimes, we can set the tone for how people receive our news,” Jessa explained. “When we say something like, ‘Oh, we’re expecting,’ or ‘We’re so thankful for this baby. We’re so grateful,’ that definitely sets a different tone for how it’s received versus [saying], ‘We’re definitely done after this one.’”
She added, “I don’t think it’s wrong to say certain things, but I know that sometimes we can cater to how we think other people might receive the news in the way that we present it. So, if we think people might judge me for having another baby, we might be quicker to present the information in a way that’s, like, backpedaling or apologizing for where we are in life.”
Jessa also made sure to note that neither she nor Seewald, 29, can “fully control” outside opinions.
“We don’t live for those,” Jessa added. “It’s not other people’s approval that we should want most, but I think that we can definitely influence in the way that we share information [and] maybe how other people will perceive and receive.”
Jessa and Seewald announced in March that they are expecting baby No. 6. The couple, who have been married since 2014, also share sons Spurgeon, 9, Henry, 8, and George, 16 months, as well as daughters Ivy, 5, and Fern, 3.
