Courtesy Jill Duggar/Instagram
Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Reveal They Vaccinate Their Children Amid Family Drama
Rebels with a cause! Jill Dillard (née Duggar) and her husband, Derick Dillard, candidly discussed their decision to vaccinate their children, Israel and Samuel, amid drama with her famous family.
“Well, we don’t want the plague starting,” the law student, 31, said in a new Q&A video shared via their official blog on Monday, November 23. “Yeah. So basically, yes, we do vaccinate our kids, but we do selective and delayed vaccinations,” Jill further explained about Israel, 5, and Samuel, 3. “We don’t want to overload their systems too much, so we want to make sure, of course, that they are well.”
“We also want to space them out,” she added, revealing they can determine if either of their sons have a reaction to a specific shot by doing it that way. Jill, 29, said they previously took Israel to get vaccines when they traveled abroad to central America and Derick did the same before he went to Nepal for two years.
“Both of us grew up getting all the shots that were required,” the father of two highlighted, noting they are “not against” vaccines and will do whatever they feel ensures their brood’s health and safety.
Fans have wondered how the conservative Counting On family really feels about vaccinations, although they have remained quite mum on the controversial subject. However, the most convincing evidence the Duggars could be anti-vaxxers came in 2010, when 12 of the 19 Duggar kids were diagnosed with chicken pox.
Adding fuel to the speculation is the fact that Duggar children are homeschooled, which means they likely wouldn’t be required to have the vaccines needed to enroll in most educational institutions.
The 19 Kids and Counting star’s revelation came after she broke her silence on the strained relationship she has with her family following her and Derick’s departure from the spinoff show, Counting On, in 2017. Jill confessed she is still keeping some “distance” from her loved ones as she and her husband reestablish their own rules.
“I never expected this to happen or for it to get to this point,” Jill told People in October. “But I’m realizing I can’t put a timeline on healing. I love my family and they love me. I really just have to follow God’s lead and take it one day at a time.”
They’re trusting the process!
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