It sounds like Jill Duggar has big plans for the future — plans that wouldn't have been possible if she was still a part of her family's cult-like religion. In a new Instagram post, Jill shared that she's considering a future in midwifery, which is something she really loved when she was younger.
Jill shared some thoughts on Instagram about being a midwife.
While showing off a wedding gift that was given to her years ago from a midwife she was training under, Jill revealed that she is nationally certified as a certified professional midwife, or CPM, and that she's open to using her skills again in the future.
"I’m not currently practicing, but have been able to keep my license 'inactive' in case I want to pick it back up someday or work in the birth world again," she shared.
Helping people give birth was once a big part of Jill's life.
If you watched 19 Kids & Counting and Counting On, you already know that Jill loved everything about midwifery for a long time, and she was even present at the births of a few of her sisters.
As a mom of three, she obviously doesn't have a lot of time for that now, but it sounds like she's hopeful to pick it up again in the future.
If Jill was still following her family's religion, this would likely be out of the question.
In her new book, Becoming Free Indeed, Jill's sister Jinger explained that under the Institute of Basic Life Principles, women were not to work, instead dedicating themselves to being stay-at-home moms and meeting their husbands' needs.
"If you get a job or move out, you’re opening yourself up to Satan’s attacks because you don’t have an umbrella to protect you. So that’s what I believed wholeheartedly, and that’s why I stayed," Jinger shared in a podcast interview while she was promoting her book.
Jill was open about leaving the fold earlier than Jinger was.
Jill has been estranged from her family (particularly her father, Jim Bob) for years, even having to take legal action in order to be paid the money she was owed for filming during the family's TLC series.
Eventually, Jinger started making it clear that she had left too, breaking Duggar dress code rules and carving out a path for herself after marrying Jeremy Vuolo.
Jill's future is wide open.
When her boys are older, she could totally decide to work as a midwife full time while they're in school — a future she may not have been able to even imagine back when she was growing up in Jim Bob and Michelle's house.
It seems as if this is something she's passionate about, so here's hoping she can find a way to get back to it soon, even if that's in a smaller capacity.
