Jason Duggar and Wife Maddie Explain Why They’re Waiting to Have Kids

Jason Duggar and his wife, Maddie, are setting the record straight about one question they say they keep hearing: When are they going to have a baby?

Nearly a year after getting married, the couple says they are not currently trying to start a family — despite the frequent speculation that they may be expecting.

 

Jason, 25, and Maddie, 21, discussed their plans while appearing on Jason’s sister Jinger Duggar Vuolo’s Jinger and Jeremy podcast. During the conversation, Jason jokingly announced that Maddie was pregnant, only for his wife to immediately correct him.

“He does that to me all the time,” Maddie said, explaining that they were not expecting and were not currently trying to become pregnant.

Jason then turned to the people listening and jokingly added, “Stop saying we’re expecting.”

The couple, who married in October 2024, explained that their decision to wait is intentional. Maddie is currently finishing school and wants to earn her degree before the two begin trying for a child.

“I’m trying to finish up school,” she explained.

Although Maddie admitted that she and Jason have experienced some baby fever, she said they plan to wait until after she graduates in May.

 

For now, she wants to enjoy the early years of their marriage without immediately taking on the responsibilities of parenthood.

“I want to just enjoy this time. I can always get pregnant later on, Lord willing,” Maddie said. “But right now, we just want to chill.”

She also pointed out that their first year of marriage has been a period of continuing to learn about one another.

“We’re still getting to know each other,” she said. “We know each other, but you’re still getting to know each other in the first year of marriage.”

That means children are not on the immediate agenda.

“No babies at all. We just babysit and get humbled,” Maddie joked.

Jason and Maddie have previously spoken about their decision to wait. In an April 2025 video shared on their YouTube channel, the couple explained that conversations with some of Jason’s older siblings influenced their thinking.

Jason said some of his siblings had told him they wished they had waited a little longer before having children so they could spend more time traveling and experiencing different things together.

“That’s something we both wanted,” Jason said.

The couple has also made it clear that they do not necessarily envision having a family as large as the one Jason grew up in.

Jason was raised in a family of 19 children and has spoken positively about growing up with 18 siblings. Still, he and Maddie have said they want to approach family size differently.

 

Maddie previously joked that having six children would already be “pushing it.”

Jason said he loves the experience of growing up in such a large family and believes his parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, felt called to raise all 19 of their children.

But he also recognizes that what worked for his parents does not necessarily have to be the path he and Maddie choose.

“I really do believe that,” Jason said of his parents’ calling. “But for us, we also want to enjoy every stage that the Lord has us in.”

For now, that means Jason and Maddie are choosing to focus on their marriage, Maddie’s education and the life they are building together — while asking people to stop assuming that a pregnancy announcement is around the corner.