Christine Brown tells PEOPLE she believes her six children will “have a good relationship with their father again” as their family rift continues to play out ‘sister wives’
Christine and Janelle Brown hope their ex Kody can make amends with their children.
The Sister wives stars exclusively tell PEOPLE that they still hope their children reconcile with their exes amid the ongoing family rift.
“I believe that it will happen and that it will come eventually [a] a good relationship with their dad again,” says Christine, 51. “I have to believe that.”
Sister’s Wife’s Garrison Brown Says He and Siblings ‘Don’t Need a Father Figure Anymore’ Amid Split With Kody
Robyn Brown, Meri Brown, Kody Brown, Christine Brown and Janelle Brown arrive at the opening of ‘Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth – Live on Stage’ on April 14, 2012.
Ethan Miller/Getty
Janelle — who shares six children with Kody including Logan, 29; Maddie, 27 years old; Hunter, 26 years old; Garrison, 25; Gabriel, 22, and Savanah, 18 — recalls her children telling her they felt there was an “inequality in the relationship” with Kody because he was giving more attention to the other children in the polygamous family.
“They started bringing up more and more the feeling that he had chosen sides,” says Janelle, 54. “So they started really justifying his separation, because they felt he was choosing one family over another.”
Janelle Brown showers son Gabe with birthday love as Rift continues to play with dad Sister wives
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Janelle Brown, Kody Brown, Meri Brown, Robyn Brown, Christine Brown and their children. Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock
Christine shares a similar conversation she had with daughters Gwendlyn, 21, and Ysabel, 20, about their father’s behavior. (The former couple are also parents to Aspyn, 28; Mykelti, 27; Paedon, 25; and Truely, 13.)
“There was one conversation I had with Gwendlyn and Ysabel, and they were like, ‘So, is Dad coming?’ And I said: ‘Yes, he will come. He loves you, he wants to be near you,’ she recalls. “And there was a look in their eyes and I said, ‘I don’t know. I just don’t know.’ And from that point on, they just understood that he chose to be somewhere else, and that was difficult.”
“It was really hard to still want them to have a great relationship with their father,” she continues. “I’m still pushing for them to have a great relationship with their dad. I think it’s super, super, super important. And I always want to support them with a good relationship with him. And I believe that will happen.”
Sister wives Kody Brown on how feeling ‘powerless’ as a patriarch damaged his relationship with his older children
The tensions in the family were on display during Sunday night’s episode of the TLC series.
Garrison talked about how he left his father out of the loop because he “didn’t care” to know about his life.
“Since I last talked to my dad, I bought a house, went to school and got the car I wanted and he told me I should never get it,” he said.
Kody countered that he tried to be a part of Garrison and Gabriel’s lives, explaining, “I reached out to Garrison and Gabriel. I reached out to them a little before Christmas and I reached out to them after. No, they blocked me.”
“They are not interested in talking to me,” he added.
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Christine Brown/Instagram; TLC; Janelle Brown/Instagram Sister wife Robyn Brown always feels like the ‘bad guy’ while Kody calls his family a bunch of ‘jerks’
Janelle also reflected on how the kids’ relationship with Kody changed as they grew up.
“I can see that Kody seems to have trouble relating to his older children and seems to love the younger children. And when my children were younger, it was very easy for him to be a father, wasn’t it, because he was still kind to this important [figure]”, she explained.
She continued: “He was important to them. His opinion was important to them, his leadership was important to them. And now, because they have a little doubt, I think it might be harder for Kody to feel respected.”
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Sister wives airs Sundays at 10pm ET on TLC.
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Source: HIS Education