Earlier this month, Joy-Anna Duggar welcomed her third child, a boy she named Gunner.
Duggar women are taught from a young age that procreation is their primary reason for being, so in a way, Joy is carrying out her parents’ wishes by churning out as many little ones as possible.
But like many of her siblings, Joy is also much more modern and progressive than her parents, and she’s openly rejected some of Jim Bob and Michelle’s more outdated views.
For example, she gave birth in a hospital with the help of trained medical professionals — modern conveniences that Michelle conspicuously eschewed while welcoming most of her 19 children.
So Jim Bob and Michelle were probably a little upset that Joy opted out of the old school “boil some water and call the midwife” approach.
But they were probably even more upset by the news that Abbie Burnett was one of the nurses who attended to Joy during her delivery.
Abbie, as you probably know, is the wife of Jim Bob and Michelle’s second-eldest son, John David Duggar.
Abbie worked as a nurse before she and John David began their courtship.
But since Duggar women are generally forbidden to work outside the home, it was widely assumed that Abbie would quit her job once she and John David got hitched.
She didn’t, and it seems that the Duggars are more than a little embarrassed by that fact.
In the delivery video that Joy posted to YouTube, she referenced the fact that one of her sisters-in-law works at the hospital.
It was widely assumed that she was referring to one of Austin’s sisters, but the ever-vigilant Duggar Family News Facebook page did some detective work and determined that the SIL in question is Abbie.
Not only that, it seems that the Duggars attempted to conceal the fact that John David’s wife is employed.
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In the original birth video that Joy posted on YouTube, the face of the nurse weighing her baby was blurred.
DFN was able to obtain unedited video, in which we can plainly see that the nurse in question is Abbie.
“It seems Abbie Duggar, John’s wife, is now working as an LPN at the hospital where Joy delivered her latest baby,” Duggar Family News captioned the post about Abbie.
“Joy had mentioned her sister-in-law working at the hospital but I assumed she was talking about Austin’s sister,” the outlet continued.
“But, considering they have now re-edited the video to obscure the person weighing the baby after people pointed out she looked like Abbie, I guess we finally have a real life working Duggar wife and mother!”
From there, DFN noted that it’s virtually unheard of for Duggar wives to be employed outside the home.
“A woman, especially a wife/mother, working outside of the house and family is a huge no-no for Jim Bob and his cult,” the page’s admin wrote.
“I wonder what Jim Bob thinks about Abbie working outside of the house because his wife and daughters haven’t been so fortunate to tell him to shove it quite yet,” the caption continued.
“Only Jill has worked somewhat out of the house as a training midwife but that occupation was approved by Gothard and highly controlled by Jim Bob. Go Abbie! Set a good example for the next generation of Duggar women.”
It’s true that Jill has worked as a midwife, but she’s basically cut ties with her parents entirely in order to pursue her own path through life.
As far as anyone knew, John David and Abbie were still on good terms with Jim Bob, but that might not be the case any longer.
In any event, this seems to be one more indication that JB doesn’t wield nearly as much clout as he used to!
Thankfully, the new generation is tossing his ridiculous rule book out the window!
