Matt and Abby Howard Share Their Family Journey and Set Digital Boundaries
Digital content creators Matt and Abby Howard have chronicled their personal journeys across various online platforms for an extended period.
This duo — united in marriage in 2019 — achieved widespread online recognition prior to the arrivals of their sons, Griffin in 2022 and August in 2023. Their shared content encompasses everything from insights into their marital dynamic to the triumphs and trials of raising children, disseminated through TikTok to a collective audience of 5.3 million and via their “Unplanned Podcast.”
Even with their extensive online footprint, Matt and Abby adhere to specific guidelines regarding the creation of family-focused content. In 2025, Abby revealed that the couple reserves their evenings for “us time,” a period intentionally free from video production.
“Establishing boundaries means, quite literally, no mobile devices,” she explained during an appearance on the “Jinger and Jeremy” podcast then. “We will communicate with relatives and acquaintances, for instance, by sending texts or making FaceTime calls when our children are present, but we refrain from filming videos or similar activities. This practice has genuinely been very invigorating, as it previously felt overwhelming — social media has the potential to become utterly consuming if permitted, and it felt beneficial to reassert some limitations.”
Continue reading below to learn more about Matt and Abby:
Matt and Abby Howard's First Encounter: A Community Stage Show
Their initial meeting occurred in 2013 during a community theater staging of Mary Poppins in St. Louis. Although Abby grew up in a rural area approximately two hours distant, she relocated to St. Louis for the summer after securing an ensemble part — and developed a friendship with Matt.
“I recall finding you exceptionally charming and other similar sentiments,” she recounted in a YouTube video from May 2020. “I believe my mother had befriended your mother, which made me feel like I had a natural connection.”
Matt's affections for Abby blossomed several years subsequent, leading him to ask her out prior to turning 18.
Matt and Abby Howard Shared University Years
Following a period of long-distance romance during their high school years, Matt and Abby both enrolled at Missouri State University. The couple announced their engagement in 2018, having dated for over two years, and exchanged vows in 2019.
“July 6, 2019, marked the most profoundly humbling day of my existence thus far. An immense outpouring of affection enveloped us both, leaving us with a slight sense of unworthiness,” Abby shared on Instagram at that moment. “We extend our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who made this day our dream come true. And above all, thank you, Matt, for selecting me. Becoming your wife appears to be a rather wonderful arrangement.”
Matt and Abby Howard Are Parents to Two Boys
The duo celebrated the arrival of their first child, a son named Griffin, in 2022. “Our entire reality shifted on July 3, 2022, at 7:43 p.m.,” Abby posted on Instagram then.
Matt and Abby grew their family further with their son August in 2023. “August Jacob Howard 08/10/2023 8lbs 14oz 21in,” Abby announced then. “The most wonderful small addition for whom we hadn't realized we were prepared.”
Matt and Abby Howard Have Generated Online Controversy
In the course of publicly sharing their lives, Matt and Abby have faced a degree of critique and social media discussion. In 2024, Abby clarified that during a family cruise with their two children, the couple opted for a dinner alone — while their sons were asleep in their cabin.
“Consequently, we brought them along for five nights, and it grew evident that they were not having a good time, which meant neither were we,” Abby detailed in an Instagram Story. “Therefore, we subsequently adjusted our dinner reservations to occur AFTER their bedtime and utilized FaceTIIME to monitor them while we dined.”
An insider subsequently informed Us Weekly that their respective families’ “accommodations were directly adjacent, and they were rotating who was present.” The source further stated that the children “were never left unattended, and employing the baby monitors served as an additional safeguard.”
Abby Howard Experienced a Miscarriage
In 2025, Abby revealed her pregnancy with their third child. Approximately one month following this announcement, the couple disclosed that she had endured a pregnancy loss.
“During a standard prenatal check-up, our physician was unable to detect a fetal heartbeat. Soon after, we were sent for an ultrasound where the sonographer uttered words that will forever remain with us: ‘I am terribly sorry, I do not have positive news,’” the Instagram post conveyed. “At that moment, we received the gender identification we had never envisioned, alongside the devastating information that our baby had a chromosomal abnormality that led to her passing at approximately 17 weeks of development.”
The message further elaborated, “The revelation was incomprehensible. The sorrow is utterly crushing. Nevertheless, we hold immense appreciation for the brief period we were privileged to share with her. And our hope persists. Optimism has manifested for us repeatedly. For the present, we will mourn and persist in contemplating methods to commemorate her existence away from the internet. Your kind thoughts and supplications are greatly appreciated. We thank everyone for acknowledging this cherished life with us over the past 17 weeks.”
