This is such a heavy subject.
In early 2024, Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard announced the stillbirth of their “beautiful baby girl.”
She and her siblings have discussed the trauma of pregnancy loss before.
Now, she’s explaining why holding a funeral for their would-be daughter was so important.
They had hoped to meet Isla Marie
On the Wednesday, March 11 episode of her sister’s Jinger & Jeremy podcast, Jill and her husband, Derick, appeared as guests.
They were there to discuss a heavy topic: Jill’s 2024 stillbirth and their grief surrounding it.
Though their would-be daughter died before her March 19 birth, they named her Isla Marie.
Some Duggar watchers did not truly understand why Jill and Derick opted to hold a funeral for a child they never met.
But Jill was very direct in offering her explanation.
“We planned a funeral because that was something that we really wanted,” Jill affirmed.
“I think anybody at any stage of pregnancy,” she suggested, “you can minimize it [and] you can say, ‘Oh, you’re only this many weeks [or] that many weeks.’”
Jill announced: “It doesn’t matter.”
She explained: “Like, whatever you feel is going to remember your baby and remember their life in a significant way.”
Obviously, Jill is speaking personally — and also referring to miscarriages that people know about. A significant minority of miscarriages happen without the individual’s notice.
She is not the only one in her family to have this experience
“It was really helpful for us … that we do as much of the grieving in a tangible way as possible,” Jill praised of the funeral.
“And, I had seen my mom grieve,” she shared. “I had seen my sisters grieve losses.”
Notably, Jill and her sisters have gotten together to discuss miscarriage grief.
“I had seen other people,” Jill continued.
“So, I was able to incorporate some of those experiences,” she shared, “and thankfully have more knowledge and more resources at my fingertips because of that.”
Jill also delved into the painful logistics of grappling with a miscarriage.
This included the process of procuring a stillbirth certificate from the hospital.
Tearing up, Jill spoke about the experience of calling funeral homes to see if they could accommodate her.
(If you have ever had to make extremely practical phone calls amidst bereavement, like canceling an appointment for a dead family member, you can imagine what this process was like for her.)
“No one ever prepares you” for how this works or how this feels, Jill lamented.
This grief is not something that Jill can set aside, no matter how others feel
For some who suffer miscarriages, they are attempting to become parents. The setback is traumatic and catastrophic.
Others may find that they would have added another child to an existing family. Feelings on this can run the full spectrum.
Notably, not even Jill seems to be telling others how to feel. She’s expressing her own heartache and loss.
Knowing the Duggar cult and their extreme beliefs, some on social media may feel tempted to get drawn into a personhood debate. That is pointless — and not even relevant.
This is about Jill’s sense of loss more than anything else. Our hearts go out to her as she continues to mourn.