Josh was courting Kaeleigh Holt since at least 2002 when she broke it off in 2003 (he would have been 14-15 years old at the time)

This genuinely puzzles me 

Michelle was married 4 months before her 18th birthday, but all the Duggar’s have been over 18 when they married (Justin (18) and Joy (19) were the youngest Duglet spouses)

The family always described courtship as a period of getting to know each other for marriage, so why would Josh need to prepare for marriage as a 14 year old boy to a girl who couldn’t have been older than 16?

Most daughters in the family seem to be around 21 when they start courting, and 23 for the sons  

They started courting before Josh’s abuse came to light (and broke things off when it did,) so it couldn’t have been to secure a match for their troubled son

Also, while Josh’s victims seem to have been pressured to marry early, they did so as adults 

In 2007, when Jill was 16, producers asked her if she or Jana (17) were courting 

Jill said something along the lines of “Nooo. We’re both currently single and keeping our hearts and eyes open to the direction the Lord leads us in” 

Further, while some Duggar boys (like Josiah (19) and Justin (17)) have courted young, they were far closer to an actual marrying age 

TLDR: Why did Michelle and Jim Bob allow a son who wasn’t even loud enough to drive independently (Josh) to court a girl for marriage?

And why don’t they allow this for their other children?



Is Josh the reason the family has older courtships?