Leaning on each other. Lauren Duggar (née Swanson) used her own miscarriage experience to comfort Joy-Anna Forsyth (née Duggar) after her own loss.
“I remember just when Jessa [Seewald (née Duggar)] was expecting Ivy and I had lost our first one, Asa,” Lauren, 20, recently explained to Us Weekly exclusively. “I just remember how sweet Jessa was. She’d write special notes and texts, just reminding me how much she loves me and that she was praying for me. That’s kind of one thing I do for Joy, sending her encouragement and sending her scripture. I know what it feels like when someone’s pregnant and you’re not. I know what you’re feeling and just knowing to be sensitive [to] different things.”
The pregnant reality star went on to share advice for any women who have experienced a miscarriage, telling Us, “Every day, you have to give that sweet little one to the Lord. There are many times where you can just be fearful and think, ‘Oh, I’m going to lose this one too.’ But … this child belongs to the Lord. He’s the one that has given this life.”
Joy-Anna, 22, announced in July that she had miscarried her and husband Austin Forsyth’s second child. “Although we don’t understand why, God has given us unexplainable peace and comfort during this very difficult time,” the 19 Kids and Counting alum captioned photos with her stillborn daughter at the time. “Yes, it still hurts and we have cried countless tears, but we know that we can trust the Lord. In the words of King David after the loss of his baby, ‘I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me’ (2 Sam 12:23). We don’t grieve as those who have no hope because we trust that we will see this little one again.”
Us broke the news of Lauren’s pregnancy loss in February, and she opens up about the depression that followed in an upcoming episode of Counting On. “Going through a miscarriage is very hard,” she explained to her mom, Lana Swanson, and mother-in-law, Michelle Duggar, in Us‘ exclusive clip. “It’s hard to talk about it. It’s not pretty, it’s horrible and some people feel ashamed by it.”
She went on to say in a confessional: “I was in depression for so long. To me, life had no purpose. It just hurt really bad.”
Counting On airs on TLC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Carly Sloane
