Drama is never in shortage in the Duggars’ world. Still, the family relations have now taken an even more dramatic turn.
Last week, estranged daughter Jill Duggar posted a now-expired Instagram story wishing her brother James Duggar a happy belated birthday. Only she referred to him as her “other kid.”
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A number of users on Reddit who follow the fundamentalist family and those estranged from them wonder: Who is actually James Duggar’s mother? Michelle Duggar is his biological mother, but Jill Duggar essentially raised him. The distance between Jill and Michelle gives this twisted family narrative another level of intrigue.
Jill Duggar Was Parentified at a Young Age
Jill Duggar was thrown into a role much above her years from a young age. She was not only an older sister. She was a caretaker and basically a surrogate mother.
It’s not surprising that the elder children had to contribute to a family with nineteen children. For Jill, though, it went beyond mere assistance.
She was parentified, a term used to refer to when young children are compelled to assume parental roles. Jill was “assigned” her “buddy,” James, at the age of six, according to In Touch.
On the Reddit forum r/DuggarsSnark, a number of people have long speculated about Jill’s influence on James’ upbringing. One commenter observed, “At least they aren’t hiding that she’s James’s mother.”
This comment captures the feeling that many of the Duggar children experienced. Jill was the one who actually raised James, even though she was not the one who gave birth to him.
Jill was under extreme pressure. She had to juggle her own needs and wants with the great responsibility of looking after her younger siblings. In her book “Counting the Cost,” Jill shared just how weighty this load was. Feeling that she had to be a mother while still a child herself, she talked about the emotional toll it took on her.
The Complicated Relationship Between Jill And Michelle
The connection between Jill and Michelle has been everything but seamless. They are now estranged. Jill has said in a few different podcast interviews earlier this year that her relationship with her parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, is not on the best terms.
The exact reason behind the estrangement is unclear. All we know is that their relationship was once so tense that Jill’s husband, Derrick, had to threaten Jill’s father Jim Bob with a protective order, according to In Touch. Rumors about what actually happened behind the scenes have only been fueled by the estrangement.
Jill’s disclosures have given the Duggar family dynamics fresh angles. She has been candid about the lack of boundaries and the strong control her parents applied to her and the other older siblings.
“We had a buddy system,” Jill said on The Unplanned Podcast earlier this year. “An older child would be paired with a younger sibling, or two or three. That way nobody slipped through the cracks. There was always somebody making sure this one got lunch and this one got their diaper changed.”
Does James See Jill As His Mother?
Fascinatingly, James Duggar has stayed rather quiet about it. James’s silence speaks volumes as the Duggar family falls apart under public view.
How he views Jill’s involvement in his upbringing or the continuous family strife is not abundantly clear. Clearly, though, Jill’s influence was considerably more important than anybody outside the family could have known.
