'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown says his approach to polygamy 'seems so dysfunctional now' following divorce
Kody Brown has a total of 18 children between Christine, Meri, Janelle and Robyn
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kody Brown, known for his plural marriage, is starting to question polygamy as he struggles with divorce.
In this season of TLC’s "Sister Wives," the patriarch’s third wife Christine Brown told fellow spouses Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown that she was leaving him. In 2021, Christine publicly announced that her marriage of 25 years has ended.
"My life is in a form of limbo because Christine’s leaving, and I don’t know what that looks like," said the 53-year-old in this week's episode, as quoted by People magazine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I’ve been sort of in the anger phase of divorce, and so I’ve not been addressing it very well," he shared. "I guess this construction project [on the family’s Coyote Pass property]… [is] one of those things to get my mind off the divorce frustration. But dude, I am in the anger phase, and every once in a while, I just get tied up in knots over Christine leaving."
"It's a weird thing to be getting left," he continued. "It's made me question getting into plural marriage. It's made me question my faith and especially question religion. The message that we had to the world about functional polygamy seems so dysfunctional now."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to the outlet, Kody is only legally married to Robyn, 43. However, he considers himself to be spiritually married to his other wives. His relationship with Meri, 51, has become more platonic.
Kody said he can’t remove himself from "a cloud of sadness because of the nuance of a breakup."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kody Brown admitted in the new season that he's struggling with his divorce. (TLC)
"I don’t know what this is going to lead to," he said. "I don’t know what else is going to go on."
Kody also revealed that he’s "not in a good place" with many of his children, noting he has "strained relationships" with some of them. According to Kody, he’s not "trying to be angry or hold them accountable," but he does feel that he doesn’t have the "respect" he believes he deserves as their father.
In August, Christine told People magazine that "every single cell in my body is happier" now that she's single.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She said it was in 2018 when she first realized that plural marriage was not working for her.
‘SISTER WIVES’ STARS CHRISTINE BROWN, KODY BROWN CALL IT QUITS AFTER 25 YEARS: WE’VE ‘GROWN APART’
Janelle that she ‘will be a monogamist from here on out.' (TLC)
"I realized I didn’t really want to live it anymore," Christine admitted. "I didn’t like sharing a husband or feeling like I wasn’t important."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Christine added that she "will be a monogamist from here on out."
At the time of their split, Kody took to Instagram and shared that Christine's "decision to leave comes with a great deal of sadness."
"We enjoyed many years together, and I have a large amount of respect and admiration for her," he wrote. "Although we are moving forward on different paths, we will always remain committed parents."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kody Brown is only legally married to Robyn (left in grey). (Getty)
Kody and his family fled Utah in 2011 under the threat of prosecution following the premiere of their TLC series. After residing in Las Vegas, they moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, a liberal college city in a largely conservative state, in 2018.
Being married to more than one person, or bigamy, is illegal across the United States. The law in Mormon-heavy Utah is considered stricter because of a unique provision that bars married people from living with a second "spiritual spouse."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned polygamy in 1890 and strictly prohibits it today. The Browns consider themselves fundamentalist Mormons.
In a memo addressing legal questions about the family, Flagstaff police said Brown could not be charged with bigamy because he is legally married to one woman, Robyn.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kody Brown said he's ‘spiritually married’ to his other spouses. (Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)
"Sister Wives," the reality TV series that chronicles Kody’s relationships with his spouses, has been airing since 2010. Season 17 premiered in September.
Back in 2019, Kody told Fox News Digital that the family has agreed not to consider a fifth wife anytime soon.
"We really took the fifth wife thing off the table a long time ago," said Kody at the time. "And because we don’t want to snub the concept, we’ve always sort of been very casually dismissing it, and I think that’s one reason the question keeps coming up. But it’s technically been off the table as long as we’ve done the show."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.