Jessa Duggar won’t forget the initial reaction some of her siblings had to her now-husband, Ben Seewald.
“I remember Joy, especially,” Jessa, 32, shared on the Wednesday, May 28, episode of “The Jinger & Jeremy” podcast. “It was so cute. She would sit there and she’d be like, ‘Who is this guy?’ She would just give us this eye.”
Ben, 30, joked that some of Jessa’s siblings had some questions about who this new guy was entering the family picture.
“There was a little more suspicion I think because I wasn’t from their friend group, their circle,” he explained. “I’m this stranger, this outsider. So they were a little more guarded, a little bit suspicious of me.”
While the family quickly embraced Ben, Jessa now believes her siblings were simply unsure of a new dynamic in the house.
“None of my siblings didn’t like him as a person,” she clarified, “but I was the first daughter to be in a serious relationship.”
Ben and Jessa got married in November 2014, almost a year after their formal courtship began. The couple now share five children: sons Spurgeon, Henry and George and daughters Ivy and Fern. In March, the former 19 Kids and Counting star announced she is pregnant with baby No. 6.
In her latest interview, Jessa recalled memories of her childhood when she envisioned a day when every single family member would love and adore her partner.
“Before I was in a relationship, I was like, ‘When I start getting to know a guy, I want every single one of my 19 siblings to love and adore him and give their blessing and approval and just be BFFs with him’ and all this stuff,’” she explained. “I had this high expectation.”
While Jessa admitted that many of her family members are close with Ben, she learned over time that what matters most is her bond with her husband.
“At some point, I had to realize that not everybody has to like him to the degree that I like him in the sense that I’m the one marrying him,” she said. “Obviously, I don’t want anyone to hate him. If anyone had a genuine concern, I wanted to hear that, but it wasn’t like that.”
Looking ahead, Jessa is excited to expand her family once again. She also continues to express gratitude for finding a man who is a great father and partner.
“Happy 30th birthday to the man of my dreams!” she wrote via Instagram on May 19. “@ben_seewald I love you to the moon and back! Can’t wait to see what the next 30 years have in store for us!”
