A big question from Sister Wives fans since Christine Brown left her polygamist marriage with Kody Brown as if she would seek out another polygamist marriage. In a teaser for next week’s sit-down Tell All (part 2) Christine lets the viewers know whether or not polygamy is still an option for her going forward.
“I don’t want polygamy because I don’t believe in it for me anymore,” Christine tells interview host Sukanya Krishnan, making it clear that she’s no longer interested in this type of marriage structure. She will also iterate that she believes that she is divorced from Kody. Instead of going through their church to unseal them, Christine has stated in the show finale that she believes that her divorce from Kody is personally between her and God.
The preview with Kody shows that he’s extremely angry with Christine still. He blames their lack of intimacy on Christine threatening to leave him and is angry that she’s disillusioned with polygamy despite the wonderful children and memories that polygamy gave her. It seems he has a limited theory of mind and is unable to see things from multiple angles or understand that people can hold ambivalent feelings.
Most abusive or stifling situations aren’t all bad, but it’s important for a person to place their current and future wellbeing above happy memories. Another thing Kody fails to comprehend and acknowledge is that a lot of memories Christine has of their marriage aren’t happy at all. She’s experienced a great deal of hurt and trauma over the years, some of which she didn’t even realize was happening until she matured, experienced more, and got a better perspective and understanding of what she was going through.
Just because the Brown family is breaking down, doesn’t mean polygamy and other forms of polyamory don’t work for some people. What seems obvious as Christine has come to know herself better and own her own truth, is that she would probably flourish better either on her own or in a strictly monogamous marriage. She has earned a solid sense of self to guarantee that she can flourish in her own independence, but she has always yearned for a romantic, devoted relationship without someone who truly adores and respects her.
Whatever happens next for her, it’s refreshing to hear that she won’t be seeking out the same type of family structure that caused her so much pain over the years. She grew up in polygamy, so when she was young she thought that was the only life path she could choose. Now that she’s experienced it firsthand with Kody, she realizes that it’s not for her.
Christine has seen her own biological children, and other Brown children that she helped raise grow up and get into monogamous relationships that have modeled for her a different life. She has shared on Cameo that she was inspired by her daughter Mykelti’s message that marriage can be simple, and doesn’t have to be as stressful and complex like it was for her and Kody.
She has also witnessed her aunt and mother both leave polygamist marriages in the past. Her aunt, Kristyn Decker, is an anti-polygamy activist. Christine’s mom Ruthann “Annie” LeBaron Allred has also left polygamy and the faith behind it.
She’s the only one of Kody Brown’s mothers-in-law who has left polygamy. Janelle’s mother married to Kody’s father shortly before Kody married Janelle. Kody’s father widowed both his mom and Janelle’s mom. Janelle’s mom died in late 2020.
Meri’s mother lived a polygamist lifestyle with her father starting when Meri was around five years old. She died in 2021 while presumably still in the faith. Eventually, her father had five wives and 28 children.
Robyn’s mother divorced Robyn’s biological father and became the second wife in a polygamist marriage. She made a point to keep the honeymoon going for as long as possible, and Robyn has been very vocal about recreating what she saw her mother do in her polygamist marriage.
