Jill Duggar Dillard temporarily put her differences with her parents aside to spend time with her sisters, Joy-Anna Duggar Forsyth and Jessa Duggar Seewald on Thursday. Although Jill’s 30th birthday was back on May 17, the sisters did not have a chance to celebrate the milestone until this week. The three put smiles on their faces for social media, but it comes at a challenging time for the Duggar family since their brother Josh Duggar was arrested in late April.
“Had a lovely belated birthday lunch with some of my fam at one of our favorite places,” Jill caption an Instagram Story photo on Thursday, reports Us Weekly. She also tagged Joy-Anna, 23, and Jessa, 28. She also gave a shout-out to Jana Duggar, 31, who was unable to attend. Joy-Anna shared the same photo on her own Instagram Story, adding, “Love you [Jill]. Happy belated birthday!”
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Jill and her husband, Derick Dillard, starred with her siblings on the first six seasons of TLC’s Counting On, a follow-up to the original 19 Kids and Counting series. However, they left the series last year due to differences between them and Jill’s parents, Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar. In an October 2020 interview with PEOPLE, Jill explained that the couple’s “control to choose what jobs we were allowed to accept and even where we were allowed to live was taken away from us.”
During the first few years of their marriage “…We spent time and money working towards opportunities only to hit a dead end when we’d be told, ‘Well, you’re not allowed to do that,’” Dillard said in the same interview. Jill said their decision to have more control in their own lives “didn’t go over very well with anyone.”
Josh, 33, was arrested in late April and is now out on bail awaiting trial. He faces federal charges of possession and receipt of child pornography. Duggar allegedly obtained images of children being sexually abused in 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas said in a statement. If convicted, Josh could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for each charge. His attorneys denied the charges and a not guilty plea was entered on Josh’s behalf.
In the wake of Josh’s arrest, Jill posted a statement on Instagram about the importance of community and supporting one another. “I think I’ve brought this up before, but I’ve literally prayed for good community!! We need others for support, prayer…people to do life with and so much more,” she wrote. “I know this last year has tested all of us so much, but sometimes it’s in the difficult times that you see more clearly who your people are as they become the hands and feet of Jesus!”
