Anna Duggar shares rare photograph of her eldest daughter Mackynzie on social media
Anna Duggar has worked long and hard to overcome her husband Josh Duggar's molestation and cheating scandals. And almost three years after the controversy, Anna seems to be earning the respect she wants and deserves.
The TV personality took to Instagram on Saturday to share a rare photograph of her oldest progeny, 8-yer-old Mackynzie Duggar, after she completed her summer sewing camp, and for the first time in a long time fans did not use the opportunity to slam her husband Josh Duggar.
The 30-year-old captioned the series of photographs, "Mackynzie, Jordyn and cousin Emily enjoyed attending a sewing camp this week!"
Fans and followers were delighted to see how grown up Mackynzie looked and many people congratulated the child on completing her sewing class.
There were some fans who brought up Josh, but thankfully only to remark how similar Mackynzie looked to her father. It was a pleasant change for Anna, who is often at the receiving end of backlash on account of what Josh has done in the past.
In the year 2015, Josh was involved in two shocking back to back scandals. The first was regarding Josh's molestation scandal involving his siblings when he was 15 years old; the second incident was that of Josh being involved in an infidelity scandal during the Ashley Madison hack after which he admitted he had cheated on his wife.
The backlash was swift and fierce on social media, with many fans commenting on a picture of Josh and the children which Anna shared.
"Can't believe this girl is with a loser who f--ked a prostitute," one user commented. While another fan added, "Keep your husband out of your daughter's room!". Another angry fan added, "LOL wow what a wonderful adventure being cheated on by a man that molested his sisters. Lucky lady".
A police report obtained by InTouch magazine revealed that Josh had committed seven acts of sexual molestation, and the Duggar parents Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar waited almost a year and a half to report the crime.
The report read, "James said that in March of 2002 [redacted, Josh] who had just turned 14, came to him very upset and crying. James said that [redacted, Josh] had told him that he had been sneaking into [redacted, his sisters’] room at night and had been touching [redacted, his sisters] on the breasts and vaginal areas while they were sleeping".
After the scandal became public, Josh apologized for his behavior in a statement, "Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends. I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation. We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling. I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life."
He also admitted that he had a porn addiction. In another statement, Josh called himself a hypocrite for living a double life. "I brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions that happened when I was 14-15 years old, and now I have re-broken their trust," he added.
"As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose to our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example," Josh continued.
Hence, fans were surprised when Anna shared a tribute to her husband on their 10-year anniversary of their engagement and referred to the past 10-years of their relationship as "a wonderful adventure". The mother-of-five captioned the post, "June was an exciting month for our family: Marcus, Michael and I are officially a year older + Josh and I celebrated our 10 year engagement anniversary!” In addition to the cute pictures of her children, Anna also posted a photo of Josh kissing her on the forehead. "The past 10 years have been a wonderful adventure. So thankful for God’s redeeming grace and His blessings to us along the way, especially our 5 M’s!"
The last couple of years have been nothing but difficult for the pair and their marriage was rocked and shaken by Josh's infidelity scandal.
In a joint statement, the couple announced the happy news that they were expecting their fifth child together. "For nearly the last two years, we have quietly worked to save our marriage, focus on our children, and rebuild our lives together as a family. Doing so is never easy after a breach of trust. We’ve learned that a life of faith and rebuilding a life together is simply done one day at a time," the statement read.
"As we continue our journey as a family and rebuild our lives, we are delighted to share with you that we are expecting a new baby boy later this year. Beauty comes from ashes and we cannot wait to see and kiss the face of this sweet new boy!" the statement continued.
At the time of announcing the birth of their child, they wrote in a blog, "We are so thankful and happy to announce the arrival of our new son, Mason Garrett Duggar. Both he and Anna are doing well. He arrived today without complication and we already adore him".
"The entire family is ecstatic over the arrival of another beautiful blessing. We want to thank everyone for your prayers, kind words and well wishes. We appreciate it much more than we could ever express. We pray God blesses each of you with an abundance of the kindness you’ve shown us," they continued.
The couple has four other children together: Mackynzie Renée, Meredith, Michael, and Marcus.