Duggars' Memorial Service for Stillborn Baby Celebrates Short Life
Hundreds gathered together to mourn the loss of the Duggars’ stillborn baby Wednesday afternoon in a memorial service held in Springdale, Ark.
The ceremony celebrated the short life of their would be 20th child, who was miscarried during the second trimester of Michelle’s pregnancy.
“I feel great sorrow and grief, and yet at the same time I have a peace in my heart,” People reported Michelle saying at the memorial. “This is so sad, but I have peace.”
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“There are people praying for us and angels surrounding our home, and there was peace in the sorrow and the grief. Those feelings are mingled together.”
During a routine 19-week ultrasound, the Duggars' doctor was not able to find a heartbeat for their unborn child, who was due in April 2012.
A letter written to her unborn daughter Jubilee Shalom, named after her death, was played during Wednesday's memorial service, in which the devastated mother “[poured her] heart out to Jubilee.”
Michelle knew she would be unable to get through the entire letter during the actual gathering so she prerecorded the letter prior to the memorial.
To the surprise of many, photos of the stillborn baby were also displayed at the funeral, taken by the nonprofit organization Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, which helps families heal from their loss.
The group shared that “offering gentle and beautiful photography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner is the heart of this organization.”
“The soft, gentle heirloom photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process,” their website notes. “They allow families to honor and cherish their babies, and share the spirits of their lives.”
The photo captured by the group featured Michelle holding Jubilee’s tiny hands and feet with the caption: “There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world.”
Amy Duggar, a cousin of the family, tweeted the photos, saying, “RIP precious Jubilee Shalom Duggar! Can’t wait to meet you someday, thank you Lord for giving our family peace.”
The images were promptly taken down from her Twitter account, however.
A spokesperson shared with People that the private photos were never intended to be publicly released. They were “simply for the family.”
Husband Jim Bob Duggar expressed at the memorial, “I really believe that God sees the bigger picture. I hope that her short life can encourage other people who have gone through things like this. It was very healing, and we have precious memories.”
“We won’t see this child’s life and the phases that we’ve seen for our other children, but we know we will see this child in heaven one day,” he added, according to the Daily Mail.
“We are thankful for each child, and we are blessed to have the children we have here and the ones we will meet someday in heaven.”
Jubilee Shalom’s death marks the Duggars’ second miscarriage. Their first prompted them to stop all birth control and “leave up to God” the number of their children, believing that the medicine caused the death of their second child.
