Jana Duggar Can’t Go Out With Her Married Siblings Because She’s Single

Jana Duggar recently admitted that being one of the only unmarried adult Duggar daughters isn’t easy. According to the Counting On star, she’s often excluded from activities because she’s single.

According to the International Business Times, 27-year-old Jana Duggar recently opened up about how difficult it is for her to watch her younger sisters get married while she patiently waits for the perfect guy to come along and sweep her off her feet.

“I know how it feels to wait for ‘Prince Charming’ to come along. I’m still waiting. Waiting is not always easy,” Jana confessed.

The oldest Duggar daughter told Crown of Beauty magazine that falling in love isn’t her only motivation for wanting to settle down; she has to find a husband if she wants to get invited to go out with her married siblings. Three of Jana Duggar’s younger sisters get to enjoy unchaperoned outings with their husbands, and Jana feels left out because she never gets to tag along. She confesses that it’s hard knowing that “all the married siblings are getting together and you can’t go along because your not part of ‘that’ group.”

Jana Duggar did not elaborate on why she’s treated like such an outsider. However, Patheos explains that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are very strict about allowing their children to leave the house. The fundamentalist Christian parents believe that all of their kids—no matter how old they are—remain under their authority until they get married and move out. Jim Bob and Michelle can’t forbid their married kids from going out, but they can tell Jana when she is and isn’t allowed to leave their house.

It’s also possible that Jana Duggar’s married siblings exclude her from their outings because she’d always have to bring one or more of the younger Duggars with her.

“Jim Bob and Michelle have what they call the ‘buddy system,'” a source close to the family explained to Radar Online. “Each of the older kids gets paired with a younger kid that they have to watch over and help out. It’s great for them, because it’s like they have a set of free nannies, but the kids don’t really have a choice!”

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar will soon be losing one of their free nannies, and her absence will leave Jana Duggar as the only adult daughter to help out around the house. Joy-Anna Duggar, 19, announced her engagement to Austin Forsyth, 23, earlier this month, and it’s doubtful that the couple will wait long to become husband and wife. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Duggar family is fond of short engagements; Jill, Jessa, and Jinger all got married about three months after they got engaged to their husbands.

Jana Duggar’s parents have discovered that they can use her lack of a significant other to make her work harder. Jim Bob and Michelle have reportedly “transitioned a lot of their parental responsibilities” onto Jana, but the Counting On star says that she actually likes serving her parents because it takes her mind off of her loneliness.

“Waiting doesn’t mean sitting and literally waiting. No, we need to be busy with where God has us and being content and joyfully serving Jesus there. My parents have always encouraged each of us to serve those around us. As Jesus said and led by example, ‘…the greatest among you will be the servant of all.'”

Jana looks at her housework as “ministry,” and she encourages other young women still living at home to do the same.

“To encourage those of you still at home. Ministry is all around you, doing the basics such as helping with housework, babysitting littles, cleaning, that is ministry!”

So why has it been so hard for “Cinderella Duggar” to find a Prince Charming? For one thing, Jim Bob Duggar told People that all potential suitors have to go through him first. If Jim Bob approves of a guy, he tells Jana about that guy and sees if she’s interested. It’s possible that Jana Duggar and her dad just don’t have the same taste in men.

As Entertainment Tonight reports, Jana has said that she wants a hard-working man with “dirt under the nails,” but she’s not going to settle for the first guy with grimy fingers who earns her father’s stamp of approval.

“I’m not just out to get married to the first [suitor] that comes along,” Jana said. “I mean, sometimes it can be tempting. It’s like, ‘Oh I really want to be married.’ [Especially] in those moments where your siblings, who are married and have little ones, are going out on dates and doing their things.”

In other words, Jana Duggar would love to have more freedom, but finding real love is far more important to the Counting On star.

[Featured Image by Duggar Family/Facebook]