Joy & Austin Forsyth Are Expecting Their 2nd Baby Next Month Following Miscarriage

The Duggar family’s Joy-Anna and her husband Austin Forsyth are expecting their second child, a baby girl, sometime next month. The pregnancy follows a heartbreaking loss for the couple, who suffered a miscarriage at 20 weeks pregnant last year. They are already parents to their son, Gideon.

Joy and Austin announced the good news to their excited fans on Instagram, revealing, “Yes… it’s true! [Austin] and I are PREGNANT again! Ahhh!!! It’s been quite the crazy journey these last few months, but we are so thankful that mom and baby are healthy!” The announcement included a gender reveal that they were pregnant with another baby girl.

Joy Is Planning to Have a Hospital Birth, in Spite of COVID-19

While the Duggar girls have given birth at home with the support of a midwife in the past, Joy’s planning to have her baby in a hospital this time around. In a vlog post on her YouTube channel, she told viewers, “I am going to pack my hospital bag today. I’ve been needing to do this for a little bit. Thirty-five-and-a-half weeks, so I figured it’d be good to have the bag ready a month out just in case anything happens when we’re not expecting it, we can just grab the bag and go. I don’t really know what to pack. I’ve never packed a hospital bag before. With Gideon I was doing a home birth, so I didn’t have to pack anything.”

Continuing, she reflected on feeling “torn” on what a hospital birth would mean for her and her family, with the coronavirus pandemic and hospital restrictions ongoing. She said, “I’m torn because with all this COVID stuff, which I totally understand why, but it’s just hard because my mom’s not going to be able to be there and my sister’s aren’t going to be able to be at my birth,” she said. “It’s just going to be Austin and I… But hopefully we can get a room that has a window and maybe they can come see her through the window. That would be really special if they could at least see her the day she was born because my parents have always been there for me and Austin’s parents, so we’ll see how that works out.”

Joy & Austin Mourned the Loss of Their Unborn Daughter on Social Media

Joy Duggar has been in the spotlight due to her famous family for years, so it makes sense that she and her husband choose to share their personal lives with fans via various social media channels. When they found out they were expecting last year, they shared the pregnancy on Instagram. When they lost the baby, a girl, at 20 weeks, they shared that too.

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In an emotional post, Joy-Anna wrote “Today marks one week since we heard these words… ‘So this is your baby’s heart (pointing to the ultrasound screen). I don’t hear a heartbeat or see any movement.’ We had gone in for our 20-week ultrasound and gender reveal. It was a baby girl. Although we don’t understand why, God has given us unexplainable peace and comfort during this very difficult time. Yes, it still hurts and we have cried countless tears, but we know that we can trust the Lord. In the words of King David after the loss of his baby, ‘I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me’ (2 Sam 12:23). We don’t grieve as those who have no hope because we trust that we will see this little one again. We named her Annabell Elise. Annabell means ‘God has favored me’, and Elise means ‘God satisfies’. What a precious thing to know that when our daughter opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the face of Jesus. Please pray for continued healing, not only physically but for our hearts as well.”

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