Anna Duggar has been with her husband Josh Duggar for nine years. The pair have five children together, but their life hasn't been incredibly easy. In 2015, it came to light that Josh Duggar had molested five young women when he was a teenager, four of which were his own sisters. A few weeks later, Ashley Madison, the site used to help men in relationships cheat on their spouses, suffered a security breech and millions of users had their data on display. It was discovered that Josh Duggar had used the site to attempt to cheat on his wife. Despite the fact that Anna was clearly broken up about the situation, she stayed with Josh and even got pregnant just a few months after he returned from a Christian rehab.
Fans have often wondered why Anna stayed with him, but a new report suggests that she tried to leave.
Anna was ready to go
An anonymous unverified source hosted a Reddit "AMA" (or Ask Me Anything) claiming to be close to the Duggar family. This person was asked various questions about the family in general, and stated that Anna had actually tried to leave Josh at the beginning, but either changed her mind or was convinced to stay. At the time, the pair had four children, and her brother publicly offered her a place to go while she got back on her feet.
The anonymous Redditer claims that Michelle Duggar and their mother were close, and discussed how the family reacted.
"Michelle and Jim Bob seemed under the impression (from what Michelle told my mom) that Anna was leaving.
I don’t know if they were assuming this or if she threatened to leave at first," the Redditer wrote.
According to the poster, Michelle was devastated not only for herself, but also for the youngest children of the Duggar clan who are incredibly close to Josh and Anna's children.
She decided to stay in the end
The Redditer spoke about Anna on October 28, 2017, that they feel incredibly sorry for Anna because she is an incredibly sweet woman with a very big heart.
They stated that the family loves her and her children, and that she stayed with the Duggar Family in the older sisters' room for several months while Josh attended a Christian rehab. Some fans have been critical of the rehab facility he attended, claiming that it wasn't an accredited facility and that the rehab was run by people without degrees in psychology or therapy. Instead, it was Christian-oriented, and centered on Josh getting himself right with Jesus and his family.