When fans first learned that Jana Duggar is being courted by Stephen Wissmann, they were ecstatic.

After all, Jana has been a fan favorite for as long as she's been in the spotlight, and throughout that time, she's been open about her desire to find Mr. Right and start a family.

There were rumors, of course, about why she seemed to have more difficulty than her siblings when it came to the arcane Duggar courtship process.

Some said Jana was simply more selective than her sisters.

Others claimed that she was uninterested in men, but unable to come out for fear of being disowned by her parents.

Proponents of this rumor pointed to Jana's friendship with Laura DeMasie and suggested that the two of them were more than just friends.

While it's possible that Jana may have had some hidden reason for refusing to follow her sisters on their path to the altar, the most likely explanation is that it simply took her longer to find the right guy.

And for a long time, she seemed to enjoy her life at home with her parents and younger siblings.

But even before news of the latest Duggar scandal went public, Jana appeared to have a change of heart regarding quiet existence on the Duggar compound.

And while she's always said that she wants to leave her parents' house eventually, it seems there was more far more urgency in her approach to the problem over the past year.

Josh was arrested on child porn charges just last month, but the Duggars have known that the arrest was coming for quite some time.

Back in November of 2019, a car dealership owned by Josh was raided by agents from the Department of Homeland Security.

The agents seized dozens of explicit photos and videos, some of them portraying children as young as 18 months old.

Amazingly, when the news first broke, the Duggars maintained a facade of normalcy.

But as the investigation continued, Josh's arrest began to feel imminent.

And it was then that the Duggars began to behave suspiciously.

Major events such Jed Duggar and Katey Nakatsu's wedding were kept under wraps until after they had occurred.

Anna Duggar's seventh pregnancy was concealed from the public until the family felt that they had no choice but to reveal it.

These are developments that the Duggars would have shouted from the nearest rooftop prior to the Josh scandal.

Now, it seemed that they had reversed their strategy entirely, preferring that the public pay as little attention to them as possible.

But the most telling occurrences both involved courtships and geography:

First, Justin Duggar moved to Texas to court Claire Spivey.

Despite the couple's youth -- Justin was just 17 when the courtship began -- the couple later got married.

Perhaps inspired by the example set by her brother, Jana flew the coop, as well.

While it's unclear how Jana met Stephen, it's apparent that the two of them hit it off rather quickly.

Jana flew to Nebraska in 2020 to join the entire Wissmann family for Christmas.

She later traveled to Florida to see the newly-licensed pilot participate in an air show.

We know that Jana has been involved in other courtships in the past -- but her relationship with Wissmann is by far her longest.

Also, this appears to be the first time that Jana has done any traveling in order to make her courtship work.

And those two facts might not be unrelated.

While we're sure Jana's feelings for Stephen are genuine, it's not hard to see why fans believe there might be a practical component to the pursuit of this relationship.

Simply put, Jana doesn't want to be the only adult Duggar child living at home when the jury sends her brother to prison for forty years.

There's sure to be a tidal wave of media attention both during and after the trial.

And it's anyone's guess how Jim Bob and Michelle will handle the whole mess from an emotional standpoint.

Jana was once known as the Cinderella Duggar due to her willingness to take on the most difficult chores around the homestead.

But it's not surprising that she may have finally gotten fed up with all of that heavy lifting.

And it seems her pilot suitor might be the ticket to freedom she's been searching for.