Earlier this year, the Counting On community was abuzz with news of the Duggar baby boom.
Several female members of the family were expecting at the same time, and since the Duggars preach that procreation is a woman's primary reason for being, this was a time of peak excitement.
Unfortunately, all those pregnancies meant a greater likelihood that something would go awry.
And within a short period of time, two family members suffered miscarriages.
First, Lauren Duggar lost her baby.
It would have been the first child for both Lauren and her husband, Josiah Duggar.
Shortly thereafter, Josiah's sister, Joy-Anna Duggar suffered a miscarriage.
Now, in a new interview with Us Weekly, Lauren opens up about how women in the Duggar family help one another through the grieving process.
“I remember just when Jessa was expecting Ivy and I had lost our first one, Asa,” Lauren explained to the outlet.
“I just remember how sweet Jessa was. She’d write special notes and texts, just reminding me how much she loves me and that she was praying for me," she added.
Lauren went on to explain how she paid it forward by offering assistance to Joy in the months following her loss:
"That’s kind of one thing I do for Joy, sending her encouragement and sending her scripture," she said.
"I know what it feels like when someone’s pregnant and you’re not. I know what you’re feeling and just knowing to be sensitive [to] different things.”
These days, Lauren is pregnant again, and she spoke to Us about her fear of a second miscarriage:
“Every day, you have to give that sweet little one to the Lord," she said.
"There are many times where you can just be fearful and think, ‘Oh, I’m going to lose this one too.’ But … this child belongs to the Lord. He’s the one that has given this life.”
Lauren and Joy-Anna have both been criticized for their handling of the situation, such as when Joy posted a series of photos of her stillborn daughter's unltrasound, when she started wearing a necklace bearing what would have been her daughter's name.
“Although we don’t understand why, God has given us unexplainable peace and comfort during this very difficult time,” she captioned the images.
“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)," Joy wrote.
"We don’t grieve as those who have no hope because we trust that we will see this little one again.”
"Going through a miscarriage is very hard,” Lauren explains on this week's episode of Counting On.
“It’s hard to talk about it. It’s not pretty, it’s horrible and some people feel ashamed by it.”
“I was in depression for so long. To me, life had no purpose. It just hurt really bad.”
While some may not agree with the Duggar girls' manner of mourning, their desire to help others by giving voice to their pain appears to be sincere.
