‘Sister Wives’: Will Kody Brown’s Wives Soon Be Practicing Long Distance Polygamy?

'Sister Wives' Brown family via YouTube

In the latest episode of Sister Wives, the family is coming to terms with how much covid has really affected their relationships, both with Kody Brown and the other wives. While we know now that Christine did ultimately end up leaving Kody and moving back to Utah – there is a lot of discussion going on about the family’s future and where they will plant their roots. Unfortunately, not everyone seems to agree on what that future looks like. Will the family soon be breaking apart and living in separate states? Will Kody be able to handle traveling that often? Read on to get the details on this unfolding situation.

Covid Is Tearing Apart The Brown Family

Because of intrusive changes to the laws in Utah regarding polygamy, Kody Brown and his entire family were forced to make the decision to leave their home state. At the time, they were unsure if or when they would ever be able to return.

Practicing polygamy had essentially become a felony offense in the state. Because their lives are so public, it became necessary for the entire family to move out of state in order to protect themselves from a potentially messy situation.

Sister Wives Kody Brown - Brown Family
Photo Credit: Sister Wives| TLC

With the family now living in Flagstaff, Arizona – the wives and Kody are living more separately than before. At one point the family’s all lived inside a culdesac and interacted with each other daily. Unforuntately, that is no longer the case.

The wives’ homes are currently spread out around Flagstaff, Arizona. And Unfortunately, due to Kody’s covid restrictions, the family’s aren’t supposed to interact with each other at all.

Initially, Kody wanted all the wives and all the children to separately quarantine. He felt that this would not only keep them safe but keep him safe as well. The plan was for Kody to essentially be the only person traveling from house to house.

While in theory, this worked so long as Kody didn’t see anyone outside the family, the wives weren’t so keen on Kody’s extra strict covid precautions and several of them chose to make their own decisions about how their individual units would interact with the world during covid  – this culminated into Kody not really spending time with anyone but Robyn, whose home he ultimately spends the most time in.

The wives and their children are starting to feel the strain in their relationships as the holiday season approaches. The children desperately miss being able to interact with their other mothers and their siblings, and the resent is very blatantly being laid on Kody’s shoulders.

Similarly, the wives are starting to question the validity of their polygamous relationship as the camaraderie and the support system between them continue to dwindle with time and space.

The Brown Family Plans For The Future

Recently, the family has been debating on whether they will remain in the Flagstaff area. At the time of filming, Utah had recently changed its laws yet again, taking the heat off of polygamy as a crime. This would leave the option open for the family to head back to Utah and resume their lives.

Christine Brown Youtube
Photo Credit: TLC| Sister Wives

At the time, Christine was very excited about the prospect of going home. Outside of her marriage and children, all of her family are back home in Utah. She and her children have always wanted to go back. Christine thought that if the opportunity came along to go back, that Kody and the other wives would be as excited as she was. Unfortunately, this was just not the case.

After taking a consensus among the wives, the majority vote was to stay and plant roots in Flagstaff. Eventually, they would move forward with the plan to build on the land in Coyote Pass. While the wives feel horrible that Christine was heartbroken, they acknowledge that they put a lot of effort into creating new lives in Arizona.

So, for now, at least, the ladies weren’t considering heading back to Utah.

Kody Discusses Long-Distance Polygamy

Kody talks about how he sees the relationships between his wives and what might happen in the future. The reality celeb tells fans that because the wives have lived alone for so long now, he doesn’t think that they miss living close together. Kody then reveals he has plural marriage friends who have wives that live in separate states.

He also begins to muse about the possibility of the wives individually choosing where their families would live.

“Who’s to say that Meri couldn’t live in Parowan [Utah], Kody said to the camera questioningly, “And who’s to say that Christine couldn’t live in Salt Lake [City, Utah]? And who’s to say that Janelle and Robyn, because they love it so much here [in Arizona], couldn’t just stay here?”

The Wives Put Their Foot Down

While Kody may have been receptive to the idea of everyone living in separate states, the wives agree that is a recipe for polygamous disaster.

According to Meri, even though her relationship with Kody is very damaged, she says her relationship with the other ladies and their children is one of the few aspects that still allows the situation to work for her.

Meri also says that the distance would even further damage her already flailing relationship with Kody Brown.

“I’m looking at it even from this place of, kind of, a fractured relationship,”  Meri told the camera during a confessional session. “Would it be any different if I was up at my b’n’b or something? No, it wouldn’t. But you know what? It wouldn’t help our relationship because I would be that far away.”

Sister Wives - Meri Brown - Christine brown
Photo Credit: Sister Wives| TLC

Christine felt there was no way a marriage could function properly if the participants are separated by state.

Despite pushing the family to move back to Utah, she feels that everyone living even further from each other would diminish the relationships they all had with each other.

Janelle Brown spoke up to say that she also had no desire to leave. Kody’s second wife says that living so far apart is not healthy for their family. She believes that in order for the concept of polygamy to work, everyone needs to be involved in each other’s lives.

“If you are truly wanting to be a part of a cohesive family, you can’t live that far apart from each other,” she added in her section of the interview.

Where does Robyn stand on all this? In a conversation with Kody, she says she misses Utah but is afraid of how people might treat them. So, she is content to make a new life in Flagstaff, like Janelle. She says if Kody disregards her feelings and decides he wants to move, she would too.

Robyn says she go along with whatever he ultimately decided to do without question. “I’ll do what I have to do,” she said solemnly.

Robyn Brown YouTube TLC
Photo Credit: Sister Wives| TLC

Was Kody Brown Predicting the Future?

Now, a year later, it’s clear to see that the idea of long-distance polygamy didn’t suit her.  Christine also wasn’t suited to continue on in Flagstaff. Judging from the information she has shared, Christine leaving was a culmination of multiple issues. One, of her wanting to move home and be happy with her children, and two, discontent with her relationship with Kody.

We also know that currently, Meri has been staying in Parowan, Utah, though she still remains married to Kody.

Fans of the show are wondering now, how bad things must have been inside the relationship. Two of Kody’s wives have left the area, knowing it would further damage their family dynamic. Will the family survive the pandemic? Will they remain a unit or continue to break off one by one? Tell us what you think in the comments.

 

Nikki Desrosiers

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