Jessa even hoped she would get her own pregnancy special

Aug 24, 2015 13:46 GMT  ·  By
Jessa Duggar was eager to document her first pregnancy on family's reality show, is sad that she can't
   Jessa Duggar was eager to document her first pregnancy on family's reality show, is sad that she can't

When Jessa Duggar now-Seewald found out she was pregnant, she was twice as happy, because she was also eager to document it on the family’s TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting. She was even hoping she might get her own special, if her case proved of great interest to the fans.

Instead, the family show got axed and she will probably not get a second chance with TLC, because of the scandal involving her brother Josh. The pregnancy is turning into a “bitter-sweet” experience for her, People Magazine reports in a recent article.

Jessa Duggar thought her time to shine had come

This article is actually from before the moment Josh Duggar got busted on cheaters website Ashley Madison, and he tried to blame his infidelity on a secret addiction to adult material. It’s part of the coverstory in the latest issue of the publication, aiming to show how the Duggars, and particularly the girls Jill and Jessa, are dealing in the aftermath of the molestation scandal.

It broke in May, after one celebrity publication obtained older police records of incidents involving Josh Duggar and 5 minor girls. At the time, Josh was a teen (and his youngest victim was 5), so the family claimed he was not a pedophile or child molester, but only a misguided boy.

Jill and Jessa identified as 2 of his victims, and they too defended him publicly, arguing that he had made a “mistake” and had learned from it.

Jessa, from what People writes now, might still be resentful towards her brother, for his participation in the family’s highly mediated fall from grace.

She thought her time had come to shine and she was very much looking forward to welcoming cameras into her pregnancy, but she’s now seeing all her dreams frustrated by the Josh molestation scandal.

“It is now bittersweet, because it's not lost on [Jessa] that Jill giving birth to Israel got an entire TLC special devoted to it,” says an insider. “Jessa would have liked to have had the same sort of platform to give thanks, show what a miracle she feels her child is and express her gratitude. The show isn't there to chronicle this happy time, and even though she's posting on social media, the scandal still gets brought up by commenters. So much has changed for Jessa compared to what Jill experienced, and it can't be changed back. And that's sad for her.”

The Duggars are not coming back on TV

Before Josh was exposed as a cheater as well, the Duggars still had a chance to return to TV, though they had no reason to expect the same coverage or the same paychecks as back when they were the most beyond-reproach family in the industry.

Josh Duggar’s career as a reality star was over, but the rest of the family (especially Jill and Jessa) could still hope to be invited to be on specials. Now that Josh landed himself into another huge scandal, reports claim that the Duggars are done as far as their TV career goes.