During this season (4) of TLC’s Seeking Sister Wife, Garrick Merrifield’s second wife Roberta hasn’t had any real screen time yet with the couple aside from a few FaceTime calls. Roberta has had her K-1 visa approved (according to the Merrifields,) but is avoiding coming to the United States right away.
Meanwhile, Garrick and his first wife Dannielle (who is legally divorced from Garrick because of goal to live a polygamous lifestyle) plan to take a trip to see Roberta in Brazil. Garrick is set on trying again for a baby with Roberta while they are visiting, which makes Dannielle and her brother Sam worry that Garrick may permanently move to Brazil if Roberta gets pregnant.
Garrick hasn’t explicitly told Dannielle that he may want to move to Brazil, but when she broached the serious topic of Roberta having a baby and not coming to the United States Garrick made it clear that he would spend a large portion of his time in Brazil in that case. This only heightened Dannielle’s anxiety and sense of abandonment.
Dannielle is worried about trusting Roberta’s intentions to move to the United States to start their polygamous family. Garrick already considered Roberta to be his second wife because they had a religious ceremony in Mexico the year before.
Roberta will have to legally marry Garrick to live in the United States, which is the whole reason that Dannielle agreed to divorce Garrick in 2019.
If Roberta doesn’t come to the United States but still continues her relationship with Garrick, Dannielle seems to fear that she will lose Garrick completely, or at least for most of the year. Garrick and Dannielle have two sons together, but they are getting older. She thinks if he has a baby with Roberta, he will prioritize the baby over his other children.
Dannielle revealed to her brother that Roberta has had her doubts about coming to live in the United States, especially when Dannielle and Garrick were courting a potential wife named Lea on the show. That relationship was very brief and seemed like a plant for the show, but if it was Roberta may not have even known that because of their language barrier and communication issues.
Robert has also said she didn’t want to come to the United States right away because her mother is in ill health and she has had to help her mom get to her doctor’s appointments.
Dannielle admitted to the camera that he’s had a lot of doubts about Roberta over the years. She has wondered if they should send Roberta money, she’s doubted that Roberta is really committed to the family, she’s wondered why Roberta has trouble getting her correct paperwork to immigration lawyers. She has also felt there have been a lot of excuses and poor communication.
Even though Dannielle and Garrick are going to Brazil, Roberta has refused to commit to buying a plane ticket to come back with him. Dannielle feels like if Roberta doesn’t come back with them, then the relationship is over.
Dannielle’s brother Sam saw a huge red flag when Dannielle told him that Garrick wanted to try for a baby on the trip. “You have to wait until she’s like here, and committed,” he advised. “You’re gonna try for a baby down there? That’s nuts.”
Later, when Dannielle confronts Garrick about her concerns, he makes her feel even more worried. Dannielle asked Garrick to wait to try for a baby until Roberta is in the U.S. with them. She pointed out that if Roberta got pregnant far way, it could negatively affect their family.
Garrick immediately pushed back, which prompted Dannielle to ask him point blank if he was okay with having kids with Roberta in Brazil. He told her that that would be the worst-case scenario, but since he considers Roberta to be family he would still have kids with her if she failed to come to the U.S. before her visa cut-off date. If she does miss it, that will mean she will have to wait five years to try again. Garrick seems okay with having children with her even if that means Roberta and the kids will have to live in Brazil for five years minimum.
Dannielle told Garrick that it concerned her that he was willing to start a family with Roberta in Brazil. Garrick said that he knew it “wouldn’t be easy. I wouldn’t get to see them for part of the year.” Dannielle pointed out that this also meant Garrick wouldn’t see Dannielle and their sons for part of the year too.
Garrick just replied that this was something he would have to talk to Bert about because “she’s another part of me too.” Garrick hopes to have 2-3 kids with Roberta.
In interview, Dannielle breaks down into tears. “That’s a huge, life-altering thing to say,” Dannielle says through tears. “I get that Bert wants children, but at what cost? I’m emotionally overwhelmed.”
Does Roberta really have a visa?
Some viewers of the show have pointed out on Reddit that we don’t even know if Roberta has had her K-1 visa approved. All we know is that the Merrifields have claimed that her visa has been approved, but we don’t have any proof of that.
If she’s having visa problems, this could help explain why Dannielle is so emotionally torn up about the situation with Roberta. Since Garrick is legally divorced, he could even marry Roberta in Brazil and move there permanently.
Are Garrick and Roberta now broken up?
There have been some online rumors that Garrick and Roberta are now broken up as of July 2022. If that’s true, then it may have happened recently as June 2022 when the Merrifields appear to have visited with Roberta again in Mexico.
