What to Know
Once upon a time, the Duggar family was in a sweet spot when it came to being a little choosy on who the adult kids would marry. Jim Bob Duggar even had a courtship questionnaire for potential partners. The list ranges from questions about the person’s background to their beliefs on theology and deeper things that are important to the Duggars. And, apparently, that questionnaire is still online for all to see.
It’s not totally clear if Jim Bob still uses it for courtships that his and Michelle Duggar’s remaining kids might enter into. But, before multiple family scandals came to light and even before the family had two shows canceled by TLC, everyone who wanted to enter into a courtship with a Duggar had to start with a reported 50-page questionnaire.
The Duggar questionnaire is still on the internet.
@unplanned_podcast Have you listened to EP 71 of the podcast: Growing up Duggar, courtship and baby #3 w/ Jinger Duggar Vuolo & Jeremy Vuolo #unplannedpodcast @matt_and_abby ♬ original sound – The Unplanned Podcast
According to Jeremy Vuolo, Jinger Duggar’s husband, the questionnaire was 50 pages long when he filled it out. He shared details on The Unplanned Podcast and, he revealed, there were questions for him about morals, financial opinions, religious beliefs, family history, and more. During the same podcast episode, Jinger admitted that the questionnaire helped spark important conversations for them.
The website FreeJinger still has the questionnaire for Duggar courtships online for all to see. It’s called a “pre-courtship questionnaire” officially, and it was used in a big way to weed out the not-so-great future husbands and wives who wanted to enter into courtships with older Duggar kids. Some of the questions include:
What are you expecting of your spouse, religiously?
What ministries do you serve in?
What can you offer your spouse, spiritually?
Who are your disciples?
When did you really start to seek the Lord?
Describe your relationship with your father? Was (is) it honoring? Was (is) it obedient?
Does your father have any medical or mental problems that could affect you or your children?
Describe your relationship with your mother? Was (is) it honoring? Was (is) it obedient?
Does your mother have any medical or mental problems that could affect you or your children?
How many siblings do you have? What are their names, ages, cities of residence? Can you describe your relationship with each of your siblings?
The Duggar daughters once said they received letters from creeps and weirdos.
@moe.makes.magick Replying to @Gretchen #duggarfamily #duggartiktok #jimbobduggar #christianfundamentalism #courtship ♬ original sound – Moe
On an episode of 19 Kids and Counting, Jinger, Jessa, Jana, and Jill Duggar discussed the many times over the years that men or boys reached out to Jim Bob about pursuing one of them in marriage. Then, for Joy-Anna Duggar, her now-husband Austin Forsyth spoke to Jim Bob personally, as seen in Counting On.
On Reddit, people who snark on the Duggars, or habitually talk trash about them, discussed the questionnaire in a thread. A user posted the link to the questions and answered them just for fun. In the comments on the post, users shared disbelief that people actually went through with filling a 400 question list just to maybe date a Duggar with the intention of marrying them.
“I can’t believe there were people willing to fill out this insane questionnaire just for a ‘privilege’ of supervised visitations with this freak’s children,” someone commented on the post.
Another Redditor wrote, “This questionnaire did a really good job at screening out healthy husbands who are good providers. There’s some exceptions of course. I imagine not too many grown men with self respect and a healthy outlook on relationships and a good job were running to fill this out.”
Others commented that the questions are repetitive and even “manipulative” for possible husbands and wives for Jim Bob and Michelle’s kids. And no one is really exaggerating here. The list of questions is legitimate and has been discussed by the family and in-laws. How helpful it actually was when it was used for the older Duggar kids is a little less clear.
Jim Bob Duggar also allegedly used it for his sons.
Jim Bob reportedly used the questionnaire for both his sons and daughters’ future wives and husbands. These days, it’s hard to say if he still uses it or if there are a lot of families trying to become legally bonded to the Duggars in light of the family’s multiple scandals. But, during the family’s reality TV heyday, the courtship questionnaire was definitely the real deal.
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