公開日:2022/03/14 / 最終更新日:2022/03/14

Jeremiah Duggar had announced that he is officially in a relationship with a woman four years his senior, nearly seven months after his twin brother Jedidiah tied the knot.

The 22-year-old — who starred on his family’s reality show, Counting On, until it was canceled this summer — shared his excitement to be in a courtship with fellow Christian fundamentalist Hannah Wissmann, 26.

With an engagement likely in the near future, Jeremiah’s family is no doubt rejoicing over a bit of good news as they await older brother ‘s child pornography trial in November.

Jeremiah, or ‘Jer,’ announced the courtship on Instagram today. 

‘Never been so happy.Never felt so blessed!!’ he wrote, posting a series of photos with Hannah in which they hold hands and side-hug.

The Duggars follow very strict rules governing male-female interactions. In addition to saving their first kiss for their wedding day, tube Duggars generally refrain from physical contact any more intimate than a short side-hug before marriage.Some engaged couples agree to hold hands.

‘Getting to know each other has been one of the greatest joys of our lives! We are excited to start sharing our story with all of you and to see what God has in store for our future,’ he wrote, adding the hashtag #mygirlfriend.

Hannah posted the same images and caption with the hashtag #myboyfriend.

Fans of the Duggars have speculated that the couple has been dating for months.In the past, other Duggars have kept their courtships under wrap for some time, only revealing them to the public shortly before getting engaged.

One exception was when Josiah, then 19, announced that he was courting a young woman named Marjorie Jackson, then 18, back in 2015.The pair broke up after four months — during which time Josh’s first scandals made headlines.

Josiah, 25, has since gone on to marry Lauren, and the couple has one daughter.

Some fans think that Jeremiah and Hannah — who, at four years older than Jeremiah, would make a unique Duggar bride — may already even be engaged.

Like Jeremiah, Hannah was raised in a conservative Christian family, the ninth of 13 children.

The Wissmann family also has their own musical group, and on the family website, Hannah is described as an ‘energetic, social butterfly.’

‘Hannah is a skilled and creative young woman. She loves spending time in the kitchen — trying new recipes and creating culinary masterpieces,’ reads her bio. 

‘Our home also greatly benefits from her interest in interior design and seasonal decor.She is one of our lead vocalists and skillfully adds her fiddle to our musical selections.’

Interestingly enough, Hannah’s older brother Stephen, 28, is rumored to be dating eldest Duggar daughter Jana — though no one from either family has publicly confirmed a romance at this point.

Jeremiah’s announcement comes almost seven months after his twin brother — with whom he used to share a single bedroom in an apartment with a pair of twin beds — got hitched.

Jed, who ran a failed campaign for a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives last year, told fans on Instagram that he and Katey had been dating for a year before the nuptials, adding that he is ‘the happiest man in the world’ and ‘so grateful God brought Katey into my life.’ 

The Duggars typically make much fanfare about announcing that they are ‘courting’ and engaged, publicizing their announcements on TLC — even if they wait several months to do so.

But Jed took a more private route, keeping mum about his relationship on his wedding day.

On April 3, he share a photo of himself in a blue suit, posing nose-to-nose with his new bride.

‘For a long time I have prayed for my future spouse, not knowing who that person would be.God answered my prayers far beyond what I could have ever imagined in Katey!’ he wrote.

‘We have enjoyed quietly developing our relationship over the past year and every moment together has been amazing! 

‘I’m so grateful God brought Katey into my life and excited to share with you all that today she became my wife!Katey, the thought of sharing the rest of my life with you makes me the happiest man in the world! I love you so much!!’ he concluded. 

Part of the ceremony was broadcast live on YouTube, capturing the moment Katey came down the aisle and the vows that the pair recited to one another. 

Jed cited the bible, saying that the husband is ‘the head of the wife’ while promising to remain faithful, listen to Katey’s needs, and love her whether she is ‘healthy or sick, rich or poor, young or old.’

Katey, meanwhile, quoted Ephesians 5:22: ‘Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.’

She promised to ‘submit to your authority as you do to Christ,’ ‘submit to your leadership, pray for you always, trust you, honor you remain faithful to you, be your greatest encourager.’  

The courtship is no doubt a rare cause for celebration in the Duggar family, which has been experiencing a dramatic and troubling time these past six months.

In April, Josh was arrested and then indicted on child pornography charges stemming from a 2019 raid on his car dealership.

Some of the material he is accused of possessing shows children under the age of 12, and Homeland Security special agent Gerald Faulkner described some of the content as ‘in the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine.’

After a hearing, Josh was released on house arrest, and has been staying at the home of third party custodians LaCount and Maria Reber — where his wife Anna has visited him regularly, even bringing along their children for supervised visits.

Anna had announced that she was pregnant with the couple’s seventh child shortly before his arrest, and she may have already given birth.

In the wake of Josh’s arrest, TLC announced that it was canceling the family’s reality show, Counting On. Though Josh has never appeared on Counting On, critics argued that Jim Bob was making a lot of money on the show — some of which he has likely put toward Josh’s legal feels.

Counting On itself was a reboot of 19 Kids and Counting, which was rebranded after Josh’s first sex-related scandals in 2015.

That summer, inTouch broke the news that when Josh was a teenager, he had sexually abused five minors — including four of his younger sisters, the youngest being five at the time.

Shortly after, Josh was discovered to have had an account on the adultery website Ashley Madison, and he admitted to being unfaithful and suffering from an ‘addiction’ to pornography. 

Since Josh’s arrest this spring, the Duggars appear to have had precious little to celebrate.

In July, Jessa, 28, welcomed her fourth child, a daughter named Fern to join older siblings Sprugeon, Henry, and Ivy.

But no other Duggar pregnancies, births, courtships, engagements, or weddings have been announced.