SISTER WIVES The spiritual and legal status of Kody Brown’s four marriages
Kody Brown is experiencing a mass exodus in his family, with each of his wives now having different relationship statuses both legally and spiritually. Keep reading to understand where each couple in the Brown family stands when it comes to marriage today.
Meri Brown
- Legal relationship status: Divorced
- Spiritual relationship status: Formally released from the covenant of marriage
Meri Brown was Kody’s first wife, and the only government-recognized marriage among the Brown’s for the first 24 years of their plural family. Kody and Meri were legally married, as well as spiritually sealed, in the Apostolic United Brethren church in 1990.
The pair got a government divorce well before the Sister Wives castle started to crumble, when Meri Brown agreed to dissolve their legal contract so that Kody could adopt Robyn Sullivan-Brown’s children in 2014.
From a spiritual perspective, Meri believes in the importance of being formally ‘released’ from their covenant and requested such from its leadership. Kody doesn’t want to acknowledge the validity of the church since leaving it, but agreed because, quote ‘I just needed her to go away.’
Meri is currently single and ready to mingle. She announced that she was dating a new man named Amos in January 2024 on her 53rd birthday, but it appears that they have since broken up. Brown confirmed their split on Instagram after 4 months of dating.
Janelle Brown
- Legal relationship status: Divorced
- Spiritual relationship status: Sealed to Kody Brown for eternity
Janelle came into the Brown family as a divorced woman, a fact not all Sister Wives fans remember. Previously married to Adam Barber from 1988-1990, Janelle Brown has been considered divorced/single by the US government for the last 34 years, as she has never legally re-married.
She spiritually married Kody Brown on his 24th birthday, Jan. 17, 1993. Janelle is still a member of the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) (a sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) to this day and believes the spiritual covenant she made with Kody is binding in heaven ‘whether they live together or not.’
She has no intention to be released at this time.
Janelle Brown tells people that she is ‘no longer with the father of her children,’ and has no desire to seek a symbolic “divorce.”
Christine Brown Wooley
- Legal relationship status: Married
- Spiritual relationship status: Null/Void
Christine Brown was Kody’s 3rd spiritual marriage and his only wife to never be legally married until after the family split up. Christine would have filed as ‘Single’ for the entirety of their 25 years together, which began with a spiritual sealing on March 25, 1994.
The wife who claimed to ‘not just want the man‘ but also ‘want the family,’ Christine never put any real stock in being legally married until recently. The first to officially leave Kody Brown, Christine began dating David Woolley in February 2023. Shortly after, the pair got engaged and subsequently married Oct 7, 2023.
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Christine Brown Woolley is now a legally married woman for the first time in her life. As far as spiritually, Christine left the AUB and feels no need to acknowledge it, dissolving her covenant to Kody through general disbelief.
Robyn Brown
- Legal relationship status: Married
- Spiritual relationship status: Sealed to Kody Brown for eternity
Robyn is the last woman standing when it comes to Kody Brown’s wives. The family has completely disbanded, leaving the pair to carry out a monogamous marriage.
While many fans speculate that this was her goal all along, Robyn Brown claims that she was ‘tricked’ into monogamy and always intended to live out plural marriage. Previously divorced, the Sister Wives star came into the family with 3 kids whom she hoped would integrate into the family.
Robyn and Kody were sealed in their church on May 22, 2010. They have been legally married since Dec. 11, 2014.
Season 19 of the TLC reality series Sister Wives airs Sunday’s at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.
Ashley Marie is a writer for Starcasm and the personality behind Twitter’s @RealityByAshley. You can contact Ashley via Twitter or email at realitybyashley@gmail.com
