Counting On alum Jessa Seewald (née Duggar) comes from a family with 18 other siblings, and it seems she and her husband, Ben Seewald, who has six siblings of his own, are planning on having a large family themselves. As of now, the couple have four children: Spurgeon, Henry, Ivy and Fern.
Jessa, who is the fifth child of Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, first met Ben when she was 20 and he was 17 — in an attempt to seem more mature, Ben grew a beard. The former 19 Kids and Counting guest star formed a friendship with Jessa’s siblings Joseph and Josiah and since he lived in a different part of Arkansas, worked to earn money to visit the brothers — but made sure Jessa would also be there.
Eventually, after texting for a while, Ben asked Jim Bob if he could officially “court” his daughter in 2013 — the interaction was featured on 19 Kids and Counting. After becoming official, Ben moved to a building on the Duggar’s family property to be closer to the TLC alum and started working for Jim Bob.
In August 2014, after an elaborate scavenger hunt, Ben and Jessa became engaged, and on November 1, 2014, the couple were married. Instead of featuring their first kiss in front of their many guests and in front of TLC’s camera crew, they kissed in a private room. As the Duggars don’t kiss until their wedding day, there was plenty of pressure.
“Our first kiss was nice, slow and romantic,” Jessa said at the time.
“It was better than if, you know, we did it up there on the stage,” Ben added.
“We’re looking forward to starting a family,” Jessa told Memphis FM 100 in March 2015, adding they were “definitely in love” and “just loving” newlywed life.
“We’re looking forward to kids and also adoption is something we’re really praying about,” she added. “You have to be married for two years before you can adopt.”
In April 2015, Jessa took to Twitter to announce the couple was pregnant with their first child.
“Ben and I are so excited to announce that we’re expecting a baby!!!!!” she wrote. “Due Nov. 1st! #BabySeewald @BenSeewald”
After 27 hours in labor, their eldest was born on November 5, 2015. The couple went on to welcome three more little ones.
Keep scrolling to meet all of Ben and Jessa’s children.