Joy-Anna Duggar gives heartbreaking update after daughter's stillbirth

Daily Mail​

09-07-2025

gave a heartbreaking update after her daughter Annabell's stillbirth at 20 weeks in 2019.
The TV personality, 27 - who shares three children with husband Austin Forsyth - reflected on the miscarriage as she opened up about her grieving process on the latest episode of her sister's Jinger & Jeremy podcast.
Six years earlier, Joy-Anna had revealed the devastating news about the stillbirth and expressed at the time that their daughter 'will be in our hearts forever.'
While talking to her siblings Jinger and Jessa - who both experienced the same loss - Duggar said that she 'did have kind of a gut feeling of something may not be right.'
She added, 'But also I'm like, "I don't want to over exaggerate." I don't want to read into things...I just remember feeling so numb leaving the ultrasound.'
Joy-Anna also got candid about the emotional toll of still having to deliver her baby girl at 20 weeks. 'That was extremely hard, having to go through the whole delivery process.'
Six years earlier, Joy-Anna had revealed the devastating news about the stillbirth and expressed at the time that their daughter 'will be in our hearts forever'
She explained that she was grateful her mother, Michelle Duggar, was by her side because she 'had been through it before.'
'And I had a really good support team, but even with all of that, it was extremely difficult.'
Joy-Anna admitted that there is 'no set timeline' when it comes to both physically and emotionally recovering when it comes to coping with loss.
'You have to kind of move on, and [someone] told me, they're like, "I went through a loss and it took me a long time. There's no set timeline,"' she said.
'When I've talked to other people, I've shared that with them. Like, "Hey, it took me six months." I felt like I was in a cloud for six months. I felt like I was in a fog.'
Duggar continued, 'You know, it's postpartum, your body's going through kind of a shock. And then that timeline is going to be different for people.'
The star then offered advice to others who experienced loss as well, and expressed, 'Don't put yourself on this, "I have to bounce back."
'There's going to be days where you can have joy, but the next day may be really hard, and you're hit with that grief again. There's no set timeline.'
The star then offered advice to others who experienced loss as well, and expressed, 'Don't put yourself on this, "I have to bounce back"'
During the episode, she also recalled finding 'peace and comfort' through visualizing God holding their daughter.
'For me, I guess, everybody would say, "Oh you're so strong. You're handling this so well." And inside, like, you're freaking out. You're like, "I don't know what's going on." And I kept telling everybody, I was like, "It's not me."'
Joy-Anna added, 'And that's the one thing I look back on. And I'm like, even in like the darkest days of my life I still look back at that and I'm like there was an unexplainable peace and comfort.
'Not that what I'm going through is okay, but like - the peace and the comfort that God gave during that time. He was just like, "You're going to be okay. You're going to come out on the other side of this."'
Duggar continued, 'The visual of God holding Annabelle - "In the arms of Jesus" is what we put on her tombstone. Just that visual for me, I guess, gave me a whole other view of it...'
Earlier this month, Joy-Anna took to her Instagram page to pay tribute to her daughter on her 'heavenly 6th birthday.'
She uploaded a black and white image of her baby girl's feet as well as other images in memory of Annabelle.
In the caption, Duggar wrote, 'happy heavenly 6th birthday Annabell Elise Forsyth ~ July 1, 2019 ~.'
'We only had her for 20 weeks, Life is fragile and precious. So thankful the Lord gave her to us for that short time! She will be in our hearts forever!' Duggar and Forsyth had penned
Back in 2019, Joy-Anna got candid about the stillbirth and had an emotional photo shoot with her daughter inside the hospital.
She shared some of the images to social media at the time as both she and her husband Austin paid tribute to their baby girl.
'We only had her for 20 weeks, Life is fragile and precious. So thankful the Lord gave her to us for that short time! She will be in our hearts forever!' Duggar and Forsyth penned.
The TV personality - who is known for starring with her family on 19 Kids And Counting - is also mom to Gideon, seven, Evelyn, four, and Gunner, two, whom she shares with Austin.
Last year during an appearance on The Unplanned Podcast, Joy-Anna got candid about experiencing post-partum depression which was at its worse after her youngest child was born in 2023.
'The postpartum stuff did not hit until probably two and a half months postpartum, and then everything crumbled after that,' she said.
Duggar then emotionally added, 'I kept thinking I should have it all together. I'm seasoned. I shouldn't be struggling with this. I had to work through just from rock bottom, like, "Okay, where am I gonna go from here?"
'The postpartum stuff did not hit until probably two and a half months postpartum, and then everything crumbled after that,' she said
'I just kind of wanted to sulk in it for a while, but I knew that that was not healthy for our marriage, for my kids.'
The star continued, 'I finally got to a point I was like, "I'm not doing good. I'm struggling. Do I even want to be here?"'
Duggar then sought help while also working out and eating healthier which resulted in her seeing 'a huge drastic change.'
'I was just fighting, fighting, fighting for months and months to feel better,' she explained, before adding, 'I also wouldn't change that season for anything...I've grown so much.'