19 Kids and Counting: Jessa Duggar, Ben Seewald and Duggar parents talk courting at Family Conference
The Duggar family's reality show "19 Kids and Counting" set a ratings high for TLC last week in the coveted adults and women 25-54 category, with a total of 2.8 million people tuning in to watch the episode.
Last week's episode featured Jill Duggar's reunion with fiancé Derick Dillard. Jill met her boyfriend Derick at the airport, who came back from Nepal.
This season, two Duggar children – Jill and Jessa - have found new. While Jill is engaged to Derick after two months of 'courtship', with a wedding date set for June 21, Jessa is involved in a courtship with Ben Seewald.
Jessa has been involved with Ben since September, and fans are waiting to see whether the two will get engaged, just like her sister Jill. The engagement announcement is rumored to be imminent, with Jessa recently launching social media accounts under the name "Jessa Seewald."
The conservative Duggar family bans casual dating, and instead embark on 'courtships,' which is "dating with a purpose," meaning that physical contact is restricted and there is no-hand holding or kissing. The courtship is also chaperoned by adults, with their contact being monitored by their parents.
For both Jill and Jessa, the courtships were proposed by their boyfriends and later approved by their parents.
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar have 19 kids together. The Christian family frequently tweets prayer and quotes to their social media followers.
On May 28, Michelle and Jim Bob, along with Jessa and Ben, attended the 2014 Family Conference in Nashville, in which they shared about courting/dating.