Josh and Anna's Big News!

It's the news you've all been waiting for: Anna Duggar is pregnant! She and Josh actually concieved months ago, but unlike certain other people [cough cough, Michelle Duggar, cough], waited until after the first trimester before announcing it on the Today Show. On one hand, I'm a little happy for her: this is her life's goal, they basically said in their wedding vows they were going to have as many kids as possible, and Anna seems thrilled. But on the other, freakishly bigger hand, I feel very sad for Anna. She probably didn't realize that she was signing up for a lifetime of TV appearances for every little announcement. She's only 20 years old and has been married/kissing/etc. for only seven months, and only started holding hands with a boy last summer! Yes, this is what she obviously wants, but is it only because she's been locked into a life where she thinks this the only option for her?

Another TWoP-er said exactly what I was thinking regarding this public situation that Anna has found herself in:

Regarding the idea that Anna should have lit out like a bat out of hell from Gator Landing when she saw TLC show up, I think this is where I started feeling sorry for the girl and perhaps fan wanking a little: Here is this girl, sheltered, brought up her whole life to think that the best days of her life would be when she married and started having children. "Submitting" seems romantic: I am going to be so in love with this man that I will give him all of me to do with as he wishes.

Suddenly, she is being proposed to by a man that she has essentially been crushing on, her family comes back and Josh announces "she has her ring" in the exact tone you use at the county fair when you are buying prize-winning livestock, and TLC is sticking cameras in your face to record a moment you probably thought would be moonlight and roses and soft music. No wonder she looked like she was going to climb backward out of that booth.

By now, anything she doesn't like she's probably decided is her fault and is a test that God has put in front of her. If she isn't enjoying physical intimacy (and really, what are the chances?), she probably thinks it is her own failure to truly submit, to truly trust God in the form of Josh presiding over her. Poor girl.

So here's how the pregnancy announcement went, from what I can piece together from various sources: Anna had taken several pregnancy tests before (my own speculation here: when she didn't get pregnant after the first couple times they did the deed, she started taking a test once a month?), and was disappointed with the negative results. On February 2, she took another test, while she and Josh were at work at the used car lot. Not wanting to be disappointed again, she peed on the stick and then left it in the bathroom for Josh to check later. Josh checked it, but told Anna that he wouldn't let her know the results until later. (Now at this point, if I were Anna, I would have guessed that it was positive - otherwise, why the suspense? But maybe he just wanted her to focus on work at work and not worry about it one way or the other.) (My own speculation again here: Josh gets on the phone with the TLC producers, down the street at his parents' house, and says, "Boy, have I got a scoop for you! Meet us at our place at 6:00!")

When they get home that night, Josh cooks up some story about the TLC cameras being there to film some yardwork that they're planning on doing. Then he gets Anna to sit down next to him and announces the news. Next they call the Kellers in Florida to break the news, using a TLC crew member's iPhone (Dave's? Just guessing since we saw his iPhone in "Duggars on Ice.") Creepy Pa Keller comments that the book and DVD they were given for their wedding night must have really worked! Then the next day they announce it to all the Duggars (and the Bates!) at Grandpa Duggar's banana birthday bash.

I understand wanting to make the announcement with all their family present, but did they have to make such a fuss with the cameras and going on the Today Show and all? Wow, a healthy young married couple became pregnant with their first child. Is this newsworthy? Maybe when she hits number 14 she can get her first TV special, like the [original] Duggars, but I don't see why this particular situation deserves special treatment. They had better not bring the cameras to the delivery room! As one TWoP-er puts it, "It's the reality TV version of 'If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?' If a baby falls out of a Duggar uterus and there aren't camera crews present, does the child exist?"

• The whole Duggar family gets together to make the announcement on the Today Show (and here's their written article)


• Josh and Anna will be featured in a new web series on TLC.com, "Duggars - the Next Generation." The first video, Josh Tells Anna, is actually kind of sweet. They're both so excited! I just can't figure out if they're calling each other "Baby" as a pet name, or just repeating the word "baby" as in, "We're going to have a." And here's Josh and Anna's Big Announcement, which starts and ends with a long-awaited kiss, and includes mention of how their "activities" have changed (I assume baby-making activities?).


• Here's their article on People.com's Celebrity Baby Blog. It features a very immodest picture of Anna (from their post-wedding photo shoot - these pics keep popping up!) where it almost looks like she's wearing pants! No, I can't know that she has a crotch!