The last few years have been full of change for the Duggar family — for better and for worse. And now that Jinger Duggar is opening up about the ways her relationship with her family has changed since she walked away from their religion, she's also sharing an update on the status of her relationship with sister-in-law Anna Duggar.
Jinger has made a big change in her life recently.
In her book, Becoming Free Indeed, Jinger details her decision to walk away from the Institute in Basic Life Principles, the cultish religious organization that she was raised in.
But her parents and most of her siblings are still in it, and as far as we know, that includes her sister-in-law, Anna, even though she is raising seven children alone after her husband (Jinger's oldest brother, Josh) was convicted on charges of possessing and receiving child sexual assault material and officially began serving his federal prison sentence last year.
In a new interview, Jinger opened up about her relationship with Anna.
While talking to E! News, Jinger made it seem as if she and Anna aren't very close these days — though she does hold goodwill toward her sister-in-law.
"We're always here for them if they need anything. And I hope that they would know that," she said.
We can imagine that Jinger hasn't seen Anna much since she and Jeremy moved to Texas and then to California after getting married in 2016, and the situation with Josh likely didn't help things.
Jinger has been clear about condemning Josh's actions.
After Josh was convicted by a jury in December 2021, Jinger and Jeremy issued a pretty harshly worded statement against Josh's crimes, and it sounds like their stance hasn't changed since. In an interview with Page Six earlier this week, Jinger said she cut off communication with Josh, and now, she's telling E! News something similar.
"I'm just grateful for the justice system," she told the news outlet. "My heart just breaks for the victims and their families."
Her relationship with her sisters sounds pretty solid.
Despite the distance between them — and for some of her siblings, the difference in belief systems — Jinger says that she and her sisters "still have close relationships."
"We always had such a tight bond between the sisters and so, I keep in contact with all of them often because it's so easy to just be able to FaceTime even though I'm so far away from them," she told E! News.
Maybe Anna will up take Jinger on her offer for help.
Since Anna has deserted all forms of social media, it's hard to know what she's really going through right now. But according to the rumor mill, it seems like Josh's latest scandal has, understandably, taken a toll on their marriage, so maybe she's looking for a way out.
No matter what happens, it sounds like Jinger is willing to offer support if Anna decides she wants to take it.
