From the moment that Josh Duggar was arrested on child pornography charges, there was widespread speculation that his long-suffering wife would finally leave him.
She didn’t, of course.
When Josh was convicted on those charges, there was renewed hope that Anna would file for divorce.
Again, she stood by her man, and instead of fling papers to end her marriage, Anna wrote letters to the judge begging for a lenient sentence for Josh.
Divorce is very much frowned upon in the Duggars’ world, but even their fundamentalist doctrine offers exceptions for extreme cases of abuse and criminal behavior.
Anna could be granted a special dispensation to leave Josh if she made an appeal to church elders.
Such cases are not unprecedented — in fact, Anna could find one within her own family.
Anna’s older sister Rebekah Hunt was married to man named Josh McDonald for over 10 years.
In 2015, she filed for divorce, citing "discord or conflict of personalities between Petitioner [Rebekah] and Respondent [Joshua] that destroys the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation."
Rebekah was granted primary custody of her and McDonald’s children, and she later got remarried to a man named Kevin Hunt.
While we’re sure that it wasn’t easy for Rebekah to go against her church’s teachings, and she undoubtedly encountered a great deal of resistance, it appears as though she was not excommunicated or shunned from her family.
And now, it looks as though Rebekah is encouraging Anna to follow in her footsteps and bring her incredibly toxic marriage to an end.
UK tabloid The Sun points out that Rebekah has been "liking" posts from Amy Duggar in which the family rebel encourages her cousin-in-law Amy to leave Josh.
Amy has penned open letters to Anna and created videos in which she begs the mother of seven to cut ties with the man who brought her so much pain and heartache.
Amy has even invited Anna to move in with her, assuring her that there’s plenty of room for Anna’s massive brood.
"Anna, I feel for you," Amy wrote in one such post.
"No woman wants to be in your shoes. You’re faced with an impossible decision and you’re being surrounded by the wrong kind of support," she continued.
"You’ve been taught since you were a child that marriage is forever and you prayed for God to send you a partner. You’ve constructed a life and a family with him."
That’s definitely the sort of messaging that Anna grew up with, and by liking Amy’s posts, Rebekah might be reminding her sister that she still has options.
"You didn’t choose any of this, and your kids certainly didn’t either. I’m not coming after you with some sort of tough love thing. This is what’s simply on my heart and I can’t help but to express it," Amy wrote to Anna.
"It’s no wonder you’re struggling to know what to do to protect your own kids," Amy said.
"I need you to understand that there is no shame in divorcing Josh."
Amy says she has had no luck in her efforts to contact Anna directly.
And while she tags Anna whenever she addresses her in an Instagram or TikTok post, Amy says she doubts that her message has gotten through to Josh’s wife.
Perhaps that’s where Rebekah might be able to help.
Anna might have cut ties with her rebellious cousin-in-law, but she’s almost certainly still in touch with her biological family.
Josh’s sentencing hearing is coming up with this week, and the knowledge that her abusive husband will be locked away for several years might embolden Anna.
Perhaps Rebekah can seize the opportunity to get through to her sister and convince her that a better life is possible.
Of course, divorcing Josh would likely result in Anna losing the financial support of the Duggars.
But it’s clear that many others are willing to offer their assistance and help Anna to escape her cult-like surroundings in whatever way they can!