Joy-Anna Duggar And Husband Reveal She Suffered Miscarriage
Jul. 4 2019, Published 1:32 p.m. ET
Joy-Anna Duggar's 4th of July will be full of sadness instead of joy after the Counting On star revealed she has suffered a miscarriage. Fans were shocked to see the devastating post on Joy-Anna and her husband Austin Forsyth's joint Instagram account right before the national holiday on Wednesday night, July 3.
It would have been the couple's second child. The reality TV star shared a black-and-white photo which showed her and Austin leaning close together on a hospital bed. Austin, 25, appeared to be comforting Joy-Anna, 21. “Today marks one week since we heard these words… ‘So this is your baby’s heart (pointing to the ultrasound screen). I don’t hear a heartbeat or see any movement,” Joy-Anna wrote as a caption.
She explained, "We had gone in for our 20-week ultrasound and gender reveal. It was a baby girl." Joy-Anna told followers that they had already picked out the name Annabell Elise for their daughter. Tragically, now they've lost her. “Annabell means ‘God has favored me,’ and Elise means ‘God satisfies.’ What a precious thing to know that when our daughter opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the face of Jesus,” Joy-Anna wrote.
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She continued on her IG post, “Although we don’t understand why, God has given us unexplainable peace and comfort during this very difficult time. Yes, it still hurts and we have cried countless tears, but we know that we can trust the Lord.” “In the words of King David after the loss of his baby, ‘I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me’ (2 Sam 12:23). We don’t grieve as those who have no hope because we trust that we will see this little one again.”
“Please pray for continued healing, not only physically but for our hearts as well,” Joy-Anna added. Her sister Jessa Seewald responded via Instagram, "@austinandjoyforsyth Our hearts are breaking over your loss. Such beautiful words you've written in your post," adding a heart emoji.
Joy-Anna and Jessa's parents Jim Bob and Michelle also shared the photo of the grieving couple, writing on the Duggar family IG, "We were so sad to hear that Joy and Austin's baby girl passed away mid-way through their pregnancy. The pain of losing a child is unimaginable." They are praying "that God will comfort Joy and Austin and carry them through this difficult time."
The young woman who'd been caught in a shotgun wedding scandal when she married Austin in May 2017, concluded her own post with a quote from hymn writer Fanny Crosby: “All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide? Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!”
“For I know, whatever befall me, Jesus doeth all things well, For I know, whatever befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.” Joy-Anna and Austin welcomed son Gideon in February 2018. She said during a recent Counting On episode, "Being a mom is in a lot of ways easier than I thought and in a lot of ways harder than I thought."
She and her husband announced this May that they were expecting a second child, seeming to continue the Duggar family tradition of having babies at a young age. But now, they have experienced deep loss instead. Their daughter would have been due in November.