How Pregnant Jana Duggar’s Journey to Having Her Own Family Set Her Apart From Her Sisters
How 19 Kids and Counting alum Jana Duggar, now pregnant with her first child, forged a unique path apart from her famous family before marrying Stephen Wissman.
Jana Duggar admitted it was “disheartening” at times to watch some of her younger siblings get married and start families while she was still single.
But she never lost faith in what she was capable of on her own.
And now, the 19 Kids and Counting alum—who bucked Duggar family tradition by moving into her own home before she had paired off with her future spouse—has it all: The 35-year-old is expecting a baby with husband Stephen Wissman, the couple sharing the news a few days after their first wedding anniversary.
“We are so excited, January 2026 is going to come with a little bundle of joy joining our family,” Jana wrote on Instagram Aug. 18. “We’re counting down the days and eagerly looking forward to this thrilling new chapter in our lives!”
Her sisters Jill Dillard and Jessa Seewald were among the overjoyed commenters, many of whom noted how happy they were to see Jana get everything she wanted.
But while Jana—who along with her twin brother John David Duggar is tied for Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar‘s second-born—waited a little longer than some of her sisters to tie the knot, she started living on her own without a ring on her finger.
Jill, Jessa, Jinger Vuolo and Joy-Anna Forsyth—who have 15 children among them—were all based at the Duggar family homestead in Arkansas until they got engaged to their now-husbands.
But while she and Stephen have since relocated to Nebraska, Jana shared in a July 15, 2024, video that she’d moved into her “tiny house” not far from her parents’ place a few years beforehand and had been working on making it her own, noting they “got a really good deal on it” at a city auction.
Jana Duggar/InstagramBut while Jana—who along with her twin brother John David Duggar is tied for Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar‘s second-born—waited a little longer than some of her sisters to tie the knot, she started living on her own without a ring on her finger.
Jill, Jessa, Jinger Vuolo and Joy-Anna Forsyth—who have 15 children among them—were all based at the Duggar family homestead in Arkansas until they got engaged to their now-husbands.
But while she and Stephen have since relocated to Nebraska, Jana shared in a July 15, 2024, video that she’d moved into her “tiny house” not far from her parents’ place a few years beforehand and had been working on making it her own, noting they “got a really good deal on it” at a city auction.
After a few years off from Instagram and YouTube, Jana returned to social media that summer with videos showing that she’d spent a lot of time with “the girls”—her younger sisters Johannah, Jenni, Jordyn-Grace, and Josie—and brothers Jason, James and Jackson.
When she was still in Arkansas, Jana would host movie nights (she showed off a massive projector screen and sound bar in her living room on YouTube) and kept a bowl full of candy on hand. And amid Jana’s many tiny-space storage solutions was her music corner, boasting a full-size keyboard and her violin hanging on the wall.
Jana Duggar/InstagramShe also spearheaded having an above-ground pool installed on her family’s property (surrounded by a safety fence with a locking gate, because little kids), sharing in a video that she wanted to “create a space for both the young and the old to be able to come together and have some fun over the summer.”
In fact, Jana seemed to be spending most of her time on home improvement, not only renovating her own house—it used to be one big open room that the city used as a temporary office—but also working on the family farm.
Jana was still living with her parents at the height of the pandemic, though, admittedly feeling a little pressured at times to pair off, but also “not all that worried.”
Jana Duggar/Instagram“Yes, I long to be married,” she told Us Weekly in 2020. “One day I think that will come, but…also I’m just trying to stay busy with whatever comes along my path and just making the most of these single years. And then, when that time comes, then it’ll be the next season of life.”
Jana added, “I think if I sit there and I’m like, ‘Oh no, I’m not married,’ and just all worried about it, it makes things way worse. I just find the next thing to do is stay busy.”
Added mom Michelle, complimenting Jana’s entrepreneurial ways, “If it weren’t for her, half the projects around here wouldn’t get done.”
Case in point: Jana showed off last July that she had joined forces with her brothers a few years beforehand to turn the Duggar home playroom into a twisty-slide-boasting destination where kids of all ages would want to hang out.
Jana Duggar/InstagramAnd while Jana knew she was going to miss the farm she so lovingly tended to—”The sun rising over the orchard, the garden, the animals,” she mused in a November 2024 video. “It’s just so peaceful out here”—she’s had plenty to keep her busy in her new home.
True to form, she and Stephen—whose sister Hannah Wissman married Jana’s younger brother Jeremiah Duggar in 2022—bought a fixer-upper in Nebraska, and the new bride was obviously up to the task.
And you can’t blame a girl for wanting her own space when you grow up around this many people.
