Friends and family members of the famous Bates family are hoping Erin Bates pulls through after experiencing septic shock following childbirth - and that includes the Duggars. The Duggar and Bates families go back nearly 30 years, after Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar met Gil and Kelly Bates in 1997. The families are both members of the conservative evangelical Independent Baptists faith, which emphasizes the founding principals of Christian Fundamentalism.