Jill Duggar Dillard says that her relationship with her parents is “complicated.” It’s been no secret that the former reality television personality has been estranged from her father, Jim Bob Duggar, for years while also navigating a rocky relationship with her mother, Michelle Duggar. During a Q&A on her Instagram account on November 2, Jill was asked what her relationship was like with her parents today. “Complicated,” is the word she used to describe where they currently stand.
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There seems to be some progress in their relationship.
Jill revealed that there’s a little progress being made, despite still not being where she would like them to be. “I feel like we are in a rebuilding phase now, with healthy boundaries still in place,” she wrote in her post.
It appears they are also spending time together.
When she is in a good mental space, Jill is open to spending time with her parents. “We try to hang out whenever it works well and we have the [mental] bandwidth to navigate things,” she wrote. This update comes after Jill opened up in January 2024 about the fact that she and her husband, Derick Dillard, hadn’t seen her parents in over a year.
Jill wrote a memoir about her upbringing.
Jill released her memoir, Counting the Cost, in September 2023. It details her controversial upbringing, her relationship with her parents, and the family secrets that came to light, including brother Josh Duggar’s molestation scandal.
She doesn’t know if her parents have read it. Speaking on The Unplanned Podcast in January 2024, she said, “I heard they listened to it on audiobook or something. I don’t know. They’re my parents and I’m gonna tread lightly. I don’t want to create more controversy.”
She believed her parents would want to 'hash it out.'
At the time, Jill believed that her parents would want to confront their issues with her with a therapist and “just hash it out,” but that’s not something she was interested in. “We’ve tried that before and it just is not the healthiest way to go about it,” she said. “So we’re still on the road to figuring things out.”
Jim Bob and Michelle issued a statement at the time of her memoir release.
When Jill’s memoir was published, Jim and Michelle released a statement to People:
“We love all of our children very much. As with any family, few things are more painful than conflicts or problems among those you love. We’ve aimed to deal honorably with our children, our finances, and our other endeavors. While imperfect, it is our intent and desire to live a life that honors Christ. We do not believe the best way to resolve conflicts, facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation, or to communicate through difficulties is through the media or in a public forum so we will not comment.”
