A lot has changed since then Sister wives premiered almost 15 years ago.
The TLC reality show premiered on September 26, 2010, introducing viewers to the lives of Kody Brown and his polygamous family. Sister wives served as an inside look at the dynamics of the polygamous lifestyle by following Kody and his marriages to his four wives – Robyn, Meri, Janelle and Christine – along with their 18 children.
Rody Genielle Brown and William Brown, who later in life was polygamist with three wives, raised Kody “basically Mormon.” In the pilot episode Sister wivesKody explained the big difference between his faith and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, noting that “they stopped practicing polygamy 120 years ago.”
‘Sister Wives’ Family: Everything You Need to Know About Kody Brown, His 4 Wives and 18 Kids
When the series first aired, Kody was living a seemingly happy, interconnected life with wives Meri, Janelle and Christine in their shared home in Utah. But over the course of 19 seasons, the TLC series followed the family as they went through significant life changes, including moves, pregnancies, deaths, divorces and new relationships.
“The dream of a large polygamist family has just been completely fulfilled. It’s over,” Kody said in the opening scene of season 19, which premiered in September 2024.
“Christine and I just don’t talk. Janelle and I are separated. Meri, shall we say we are divorced? No, I don’t think so, but we are not married and I don’t want to be in that marriage,” he added.
Here’s everything you need to know about the sisters and where they are now.
Who are the sister wives?
Mary Brown, Christine Brown, Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown.
Shutterstock
At the beginning Sister wivesKody was already married to Meri, Janelle and Christine. In the first season, the polygamist courted and married his fourth wife, Robyn. The rest of the 18 seasons of the series Sister wives follow the dynamics of women and how a large family coordinates their lives.
In 1989, Meri met Kody through his sister at church. At the time, Mera’s dad had five wives and talked to Kody about polygamy, which eventually led him to “convert” to a plural lifestyle. Six months after meeting, Meri and Kody married in 1990, with the intention of adding more women to the family.
Kody’s second wife, Janelle, is first introduced through Meri. According to Janelle, when she first met Kody, it seemed like she had known him for a long time. Soon after, Janelle told Kody that she would be joining his family, and they married in 1993.
A year later, in 1994, he married his third wife, Christine. After Kody and Meri first met Christine, who grew up in a polygamist household, it took her time to integrate into their family.
Then came Robyn, whose relationship with Kody was fairly new when the show premiered in 2010. Kody and Robyn got married in 2014, as shown in the season one finale.
Were Kody and his sisters legally married?
Kody Brown with wives Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown and future wife Robyn Sullivan.
The Everett Collection
When Sister wives first aired, Kody was legally married to his first wife, Meri, and “spiritually married” to Christine and Janelle through a “covenant” at their church.
Kody divorced Meri in 2014 so he could legally marry Robyn, but a source close to the show told PEOPLE he remains “spiritually married” to all four women despite the legal restructuring.
The day after Sister wives premiere, Utah police announced they were investigating Kody and his wives for possible bigamy charges, Deseret News reported.
Although he was legally married to only one woman, Utah state law identifies bigamy through cohabitation, not just legal marriage contracts, and the family had been a unit for more than 16 years at the time. However, the investigation did not lead to charges, and the family later moved to Nevada.
The following year, the Browns challenged Utah’s criminal polygamy statute in what would become Brown v. Buhman. In 2013, a judge ruled in their favor, declaring parts of Utah’s polygamy law unconstitutional, according to USA Today.
How many children do kody brown and his current and ex wife have?
Janelle Brown, Kody Brown, Meri Brown, Robyn Brown, Christine Brown and their children.
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At that time Sister wives premiere, there were 12 children in the family – one from Meri, six from Janelle and five from Christina, who was also pregnant with the sixth. Although each child’s mother assigned a place to live in a common home, they grew up as brothers and sisters in a multi-member family.
As of season 19, Kody is the father of 18 children from his current and former relationships. Kody’s first child was born in 1995 when he welcomed Leon with Meri. He and Janelle had six children: Logan, Madison, Hunter, Garrison, Gabriel and Savannah. Christine and Kody also had six children: Aspen, Mykelti, Paedon, Gwendlyn, Ysabel and True.
When Kody met Robyn, she already had three children – Dayton, Aurora and Breanna – with her ex-husband, whom Kody later adopted. They also had two children: Solomon and Ariella.
On March 5, 2024, Janelle and Kody’s son Garrison died by suicide at the age of 25.
“Kody and I are deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy, Robert Garrison Brown,” she captioned a series of pictures of her son in a statement on Instagram. “He was a bright spot in the lives of all who knew him. His loss will leave such a big hole in our lives that it takes our breath away.”
Kody posted the same statement on his own Instagram.
Are the sisters wives still married to Kody Brown?
Left to right: Christine Brown, Janelle Brown, Meri Brown, Robyn Brown.
Christine was the first wife to leave a polygamous marriage in November 2021, announcing her separation from Kody in a statement on Instagram.
“After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have separated and I have made the difficult decision to walk away,” she wrote. “We will continue to be a strong presence in each other’s lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family.”
In August 2022, Christine told PEOPLE that the final straw in leaving Kody came after he refused to travel for daughter Ysabel’s scoliosis surgery. “He broke my little girl’s heart,” she said. “It’s really hard for me to stay with a guy I don’t respect. I understood COVID and why he couldn’t come, but she didn’t. And it’s still really hard for her.”
Christina’s departure caused a “domino effect” that led to the dissolution of three of Kody’s marriages within 14 months. In December 2022, it was revealed that Janelle had split from Kody after nearly 30 years of marriage.
Legally, Kody and Meri have been divorced since 2014, when he married Robyn. However, they remained spiritually married.
(L-R) Christine Brown, Meri Brown, Kody Brown and Janelle Brown.
Shutterstock
In January 2023, Kody and Meri shared a joint Instagram post announcing that they had decided to end their marriage. “After more than a decade of working on our relationship in our own unique ways, we have made the decision to permanently end our marriage,” it read.
Their split came years after the relationship became more platonic than romantic. Although they were happily married for a while, Mary’s catfishing scandal in 2015 – when she had an online relationship with a woman she thought was a man – changed the nature of their relationship.
Robyn is the only wife still with Kody, but in season 19, he said their marriage is in “a place of trouble.” At the 2022 premiere, she repeated his statement. “We’re probably doing the worst thing we’ve ever done in our marriage,” she said.
“It was difficult between us. He doesn’t know who to blame, himself or one of the other wives,” Robyn explained. “Kody is very rejected, so I think he’s kind of looking at me saying, ‘Are you going to reject me too?’ ”
She continued, “So I’m on my toes. I have to constantly make sure he doesn’t sabotage our relationship.”
Where are the sisters’ wives now?
Kody Brown and his ‘sister wives’ Robyn, Meri, Christine and Janelle. Christine Brown/Instagram
When Sister wives debuted, the extended family lived in Lehi, Utah. Since then, they have moved twice: first to Las Vegas, Nev., and then to Flagstaff, Ariz., where only a few family members remain.
Janelle, who is out of touch with Kody, still lives in Flagstaff – for now. With her daughter Madison, she “dreamed” of buying real estate, and at the beginning of the 19th season, she was looking at places in Montana — five hours from Christina in Utah.
Recently, Janelle spent most of the summer in North Carolina, where some of her children live, and hinted at plans for the future there. In September 2024, she, her daughter Madison and son-in-law Caleb announced the launch of a new business venture and passion project, Taeda Farms.
Meanwhile, Christine returned to Utah, where she met her now-husband, David Woolley, through a dating app. They went public with their relationship in February 2023, and announced their engagement two months later.
Christine and David tied the knot on October 7, 2023, in a ceremony she described as a “fairytale”.
Although she no longer considers herself a polygamist, Christine still keeps her sister-wife Janelle close. Christine shared with PEOPLE that she told David, “Wherever I go, Janelle has to go with me, and all her kids are coming.”
As for Meri, she’s back in Utah after splitting from a polygamous marriage — and reentering the dating scene.
“Prince Charming hasn’t arrived. I’m not really looking for a prince,” she explained in an Instagram video in April 2024. “No, I’m looking for a king. There’s a little energy difference there. The prince is still a boy. I want a man who knows who he is.”
Janelle, Christine, Kody, Meri and Robyn Brown attend the 25th Anniversary of the Hard Rock Hotel on October 10, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Shutterstock
Despite being in the same condition as some of her sisters, Meri was distant from them. “When I see them, we have heart-to-heart conversations, but I’m not looking for them to have a relationship,” she said Miss Understood Podcast in June 2024. A month before, Meri launched a passion project called Worthy Up, and in August 2024, she announced that she would be temporarily closing her bed and breakfast, Lizzie’s Heritage Inn, for renovations.
These days, not all kids have relationships with Kody, and not all women have good relationships with each other. Neither Christine nor Janelle talk to Kody other than co-parenting, and Christine has said she doesn’t want a relationship with her ex-sister, wife Robyn, or her kids.
In the season 19 premiere, Robyn — who still lives in Flagstaff with Kody — revealed that she misses “the camaraderie I had with my sisters.” In August 2024, Kody and Robyn put the two-acre Flagstaff estate up for sale, asking $1.65 million.
“I feel like an idiot that they left behind,” Robyn said in the trailer for Sister wives season 19 As for Kody, he told PEOPLE in September 2024 that he hopes everyone in his family is “happy.”
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the crisis line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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Source: HIS Education