How Sister Wives' Meri Brown Really Felt About Divorcing Kody Brown

How Sister Wives' Meri Brown Felt Watching Kody Brown Have Kids Amid Her Fertility StrugglesWhen Meri Brown filed to end her union with Kody Brown back in 2014, she truly felt she'd continue to love him in sickness and in health. She just didn't realize how dire their prognosis really was. "I thought it was for the good of the family," the Sister Wives star explained on the TLC series' Nov. 1 episode. And since she had vowed to do right by her then-husband and the rest of their sprawling brood, she believed that dissolving their marriage to allow him to marry fourth wife Robyn Brown and officially take on her children Dayton, Aurora and Breanna was the best way to multiply their brood's love. "So, in 2014, Kody and I got legally divorced because they were talking about him wanting to adopt Robyn's kids," the mom to 31-year-old Leon explained. "And then they got legally married and it made the adoption easier." It did not, however, smooth out the bumps in her relationship with the dad of 18. Though it was tough to formally unravel her decades-long union, the 55-year-old did so "thinking that things were going to be OK and they were not," Meri continued. "He was nice to me for, I don't know, maybe a month." Honestly, she would have expected more gratitude considering she cleared the way for his life as a monogamist. Within a decade, Kody's second and third wives Janelle Brown and Christine Brown announced their splits from the 57-year-old. And Meri, who had tied the knot with the patriarch in 1990, acknowledged the end of their relationship in 2022, leaving Robyn as his sole wife not just on paper but IRL. And while Meri wouldn't go so far as to insist that he and Robyn plotted the path for their partnership, "if it wasn't a plan, it worked very well in his favor," she stressed of Kody. "I definitely would have done things differently when I divorced him had I been legally married to him still." With the legalities of their separation already well-settled by then, "I think he absolutely benefited," she continued. "So, he can call himself lucky." Meri Brown/InstagramChristine might choose a different term. "I think it was kind of planted," she told Meri of the idea for her divorce. "I remember specifically a couple of times we'd be in a conversation where Robyn mentioned it." In fact, Christine noted in a confessional, "I remember sitting in Meri's living room in Lehi before we moved, and Robyn was talking about how beautiful it was that the first wife offered to get a legal divorce from her husband so he could legally marry another wife who was coming in with children and then they legally adopted the children." At the time, Christine continued, "I remember thinking, 'What are you suggesting here? You think Meri should legally divorce Kody?' I remember just thinking that. And then it happened and then Meri's like, 'This is my idea. I'm coming up with this legal divorce.' And I'm like, no, you're not."Janelle would tend to agree. "I think there was way more going on," she insisted in her own confessional of the switch-up. Whether Robyn and Kody, who decided not to return for the series' 21st season, acknowledge it or not, Janelle added, "I think they kind of were wanting to go in that direction." And Meri was all too happy to take that same fork in the road. "I know that having Kody and Robyn being able to adopt Robyn's kids was Meri's goal," Christine acknowledged, "and she did it with absolute pure intentions." But, "even back then, I was like, 'It's a mistake,'" opined the mom of six, who wed husband David Woolley in 2023. "They were struggling before that, for sure, but it was definitely the beginning of the real crumbling between the two of them." While they may have collapsed, plenty of other Brown family members have managed to build strong partnerships. Check out the Sister Wives stars who have something really awesome. shutter stockKody Brown & Robyn Brown"She looked like a soccer mom," Kody Brown once joked on Sister Wives of meeting then-single mom Robyn in 2009. "She had a van, three kids and was divorced. I thought, 'I didn't need a van, a divorced woman, and three kids in my life—that's just trouble.'"More than a decade and a half on, though, they're still kicking it, with the pair adding son Solomon and daughter Ariella to the squad. As for bringing on other teammates, it's not in the game plan. "I really, really struggle with it because it feels, like, 'Oh, well. Those didn't work. So, on to [someone] new,'" Robyn said on the December 2024 Sister Wives: One on One special of Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Christine Brown leaving the fold. "That's hard for me. That's really, really hard for me. It feels disrespectful."Meri Brown/InstagramMeri BrownIn January 2024, a year after she and Kody announced their breakup, Meri revealed on Instagram that she had begun dating Amos Andrews the previous October. But in February 2024, Meri confirmed on Instagram that they had called it quits. In 2026, Meri confirmed she was seeing a man named Ron who she met at a speed-dating event. "I am happy," she said on the TLC series' One-on-One special. "Ron is a really cool guy, very comfortable. I'm very comfortable hanging out with him."Janelle Brown/InstagramJanelle BrownLiving proof that once you stop looking for love it finds you, Janelle hard launched her relationship with a suitor she referred to only as Pete through an August 2026 Instagram post. "I wasn’t looking," insisted the mom of six, who'd frequently questioned if she'd ever date again. "I certainly wasn’t expecting you. And somehow, you turned out to be exactly what I didn’t know I needed." Summed up the North Carolinian: "It has been pretty wonderful. Everyone please meet Pete." InstagramChristine Brown WoolleyShe got the man and the family. Going official with her and David Woolley's romance on Valentine's Day 2023, Christine shared, "I finally found the love of my life, David. The first time he held me close, it felt like my soul took its first breath. He's wonderful and kind, incredible with my children and an adorable grandpa. I never dreamed I could find a love like this."Two months later he added to the fantasy with a spring proposal. "David treats me like a queen and tells me I'm beautiful everyday," Christine told People. "I've never been in love like this before and the world seems like a brighter place with him in it."Tying the knot in Utah on Oct. 7, 2023, she wrote, "I'm so blessed! I've married my best friend."InstagramMadison Brown BrushThe first of the 18 Brown children to walk down the aisle, Janelle's eldest daughter wed Caleb Brush at a 2016 outdoor wedding in Montana captured by TLC's cameras. A decade later, the two have fully multiplied their love with Emilia joining older siblings Axel, Evie and Josephine in March 2025. “Our sweet girl took her time, keeping us all in suspense, but when she decided it was time—she didn’t waste a second," North Carolina-based Maddie wrote on Instagram. "Born on 3/14, she arrived absolutely perfect.”InstagramLeon BrownFour years after their engagement aired on the TLC reality show, Meri's only child settled in Denver with Audrey Kriss. "My sweetest symphony," Leon raved of their partner in 2022. "Life with you truly is so sweet." Echoed Audrey, "Being your partner and watching your growth and coming into yourself over the years has been an honor and joy."InstagramLogan BrownEldest Brown kid Logan got the gang back together when he married longtime girlfriend Michelle Petty in Arizona in 2022. "It was a beautiful day and this mama's heart was mush the whole time," Janelle shared on Instagram of her son's wedding. "You always have such a sense of peace when your children find amazing life partners."InstagramMykelti BrownMore than six years after her 2016 wedding to Antonio "Tony" Padron, Mykelti joked that they'd already tested the limits of their marriage vows by welcoming twins Archer and Ace into the fold in November 2022. "We have 3 kids and 4 moves under our belt," North Carolina-based Mykelti, who is also mom to eldest daughter Avalon, wrote on Instagram at the time. "A whole lot of good times and some hard times #surprisetwins But here we are still doing this whole marriage thing."Instagram/Mitch ThompsonAspyn BrownSince their 2018 wedding, Christine's oldest daughter and husband Mitch Thompson have traveled everywhere from Paris to Alaska. But in December 2022, they put down roots, with Mitch sharing on Instagram, "We bought our first home! Just in time for Christmas." Aspyn announced her pregnancy with the couple's first baby in April 2025.InstagramGwendlyn BrownBefore hitting their one-year anniversary, Christine's third oldest daughter and love Beatriz Queiroz went to the happiest place on earth and marked six months together with chocolate fondue. Then came the really sweet part, with Gwendlyn sharing a glimpse at the candlelit, rose-filled proposal on Instagram in November 2022, writing simply, "i'm engaged!!" The couple wed in July 2023, captioning a photo from the ceremony: "Say hello to mrs (x2) queiroz."