Josh Duggar, the scandal-plagued eldest child of the 19 Kids and Counting Duggar clan, and his wife Anna are back — with a baby on the way.
The couple took to the Duggar family website (home of one suspicious AF family scrapbook) yesterday to announce via blog post that they are expecting a fifth child, a baby boy due later this year. This is the couple's first flicker back into the public eye after a series of shocking sex scandals rocked their marriage in 2015.
"For nearly the last two years, we have quietly worked to save our marriage, focus on our children, and rebuild our lives together as a family. Doing so is never easy after a breach of trust," they wrote. "We’ve learned that a life of faith and rebuilding a life together is simply done one day at a time. As we continue our journey as a family and rebuild our lives, we are delighted to share with you that we are expecting a new baby boy later this year."
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Despite the rocky road they've been down, the conservative Christian duo remains, at least publicly, optimistic about turning it all around. "Beauty comes from ashes and we cannot wait to see and kiss the face of this sweet new boy!" they conclude the announcement before signing off using only their first names.
If you've forgotten about Josh and Anna's scandalous time in the national spotlight, we can hardly blame you. The pair has been keeping an intentionally low-profile since Josh was accused of and later confessed to molesting young girls (some of whom were his sisters) as a teenager, and the family's reality show was subsequently pulled from the TLC schedule. Then came the infidelity: after being among those exposed in the Ashley Madison hack two years ago, Josh confessed to both being "unfaithful" to his wife and suffering from a pornography addiction.
Less than a week after making his confession, the eldest Duggar checked himself into a faith-based rehabilitation center in Rockford, Illinois. Determined to save their marriage, Anne reportedly visited him there during treatment. A year later, the couple resurfaced on the official Duggar family Facebook page for their eighth anniversary with a post expressing thanks from the family for "God’s redemptive love in your lives." (A subtle dig or innocent encouragement? You be the judge.)
The controversial couple went on to spend Thanksgiving back in the Duggar family fold, and now, four months later, it appears they are ready to put his reputation-tarnishing and almost marriage-ending scandal behind them once and for all with a new baby who will be the second bouncing boy to join the clan in 2017. Josh's sister Jessa, who happens to be one of the sibling's he molested, welcomed a baby boy with husband Ben Seewald just last month.
As for whether or not the wee tots will be allowed to play together, your guess is as good as ours.