Jana Duggar is 30 years old.
And single.
This is not be a noteworthy fact for most Americans, but Jana is not ordinary. After all, just look at the reality star’s last name.
It’s nearly unheard of for a woman of this age, from this family, to not be married with, at minimum, 5-9 children by then.
We kid. Sort of.
The truth, however, is that Jana’s non-married status is a major source of debate and consternation across the Internet.
Many fans, observers and critics have wondered if she was, or is, in a same-sex relationship with Laura DeMasie.
Such a romance, of course, would be frowned upon (and then some) by Jana’s very conservative parents.
The topic, as you might expect, was not addressed directly during the eldest daughter Duggar’s interview on July 2.
Asked by the celebrity gossip tabloid Us Weekly about her love life – or lackthereof – Duggar responded as follows:
“I’m not that worried."
"Yes, I long to be married and one day."
"I think that will come, but I think," she adds. "I’m just also just trying to stay busy with whatever comes along my path.”
Maybe we’re making too big a deal out of her word choice, but it’s pretty sad to hear a woman say she longs to be married.
As if this ought to be someone’s ultimate life goal and as if marriage in general – as opposed to a marriage to the right person – is what one should aim for.
But what else would you expect from a female raised by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar?
Particularly when the former is sitting right friggin’ there?
Sitting alongside her controlling mother, Jana confessed that she sometimes feels “a little more pressure” to take tie the knot.
However, for now, she’s focusing on “making the most” of her single years. (Yes, really … her single years.) She adds:
“I think if I sit there and I’m like, ‘Oh no, I’m not married’ and just [get] all worried about it, it makes things way worse."
Jana has been asked about her lack of a husband for years now.
She opened up about her dating life during an October 2019 episode of TLC’s Counting On, admitting that there “have been a number of guys” who have asked her out – but “none of them worked out.”
She added back then: “[My siblings] have been in relationships, courtships, whatever you want to label it as."
"Of course, it doesn’t always end in marriage and that’s okay.
"You have to sometimes talk to someone, get to know someone and realize, you know what, it doesn’t have to end in marriage.”
1. What a novel, and smart and mature and insightful, concept! 2. But aside from Josiah and Marjorie, has that ever been true?
In this same exchange with Us, meanwhile, Jana cites her parents as having a model union.
“They’re quick to forgive and to make, really try to make things right,” she said of Michelle and Jim Bob.
“The genuine love that they still have for one another," she said, gushing over them.
"This young love and they still have that, you know, today."
"I think that’s rare to see couples that are their age and been married that long.”