What You Don't Know About The Kids On Sister Wives
Sister Wives star Kody Brown and his four wives, Robyn Brown, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, and Christine Brown, have a whopping total of 18 kids in their family. Needless to say, that's a lot of children to account for. And although TLC has captured a ton of footage of the Brown children throughout the years, there are still some things viewers don't know about their lives. So, what don't you know about the Sister Wives kids? Let's find out.
Mariah Brown's first same-sex relationship
In January 2017, Mariah Brown came out as a lesbian to her family and the world in an emotional episode of Sister Wives. Although a lot of viewers were shocked by the admission given Mariah's conservative and religious background, many were rooting for her to find love.
The good news is Mariah did find someone shortly after she made her brave announcement. Mariah has been in a relationship with Audrey Kriss, an artist and fellow classmate she met while she was a student at Utah's Westminster College (via Us Weekly), for over a year.
"Celebrated a year with this one yesterday, & let me tell ya, it's been one amazing year," Mariah gushed on Instagram about the couple's one-year anniversary on January 23, 2018. "I love you forever & ever baby."
At the time of this writing, however, Kriss hasn't appeared on Sister Wives, which is why this romance might seem very mysterious to some viewers.
What we do know about the romance is that Mariah's mom, Meri Brown, has officially accepted the relationship. In fact, On January 15, 2018, Meri took to Twitter to pen Kriss a touching birthday message. "Thanks for being the amazing person you are & for loving @mariahlian," Meri wrote. "So glad to have you in our lives!!"
Logan & Mariah Brown's relationship with Mormonism
The Brown family consider themselves to be Fundamentalist Mormons. But what is lesser known is that Logan Brown and Mariah don't see themselves as Mormons. The big revelation surfaced after some fans questioned a picture Logan shared of Mariah enjoying a drink on her 21st birthday, which is a big no-no in the Mormon community.
"I thought drinking was against Mormonism? I'm not bashing her but I thought it was," one confused fan commented on the July 29, 2016 Instagram photo.
"No problem. Yes, It is typically discouraged in Mormonism but I'm not Mormon," Logan replied to the curious viewer. "I can't speak for Mariah but she is a responsible adult that made the decision to enjoy a drink. :) Cheers!"
But when another fan brought up the no drinking rule among Mormons, he confirmed what many suspected by stating, "You're absolutely right. They typically don't. Mariah and I are not members of the LDS/Mormon church though."
Dayton Brown's Asperger Syndrome diagnosis
Shortly after Robyn Brown entered the Brown family in 2010, she started to open up about her eldest son, Dayton Brown, and his struggle with Asperger Syndrome.
Although a lot of viewers know that Dayton, who Kody adopted in 2015, has Asperger's, not many know about how and when he was diagnosed. In a blog post from January 25, 2018, however, Robyn got completely candid about Dayton's condition.
"When Dayton was little he struggled with balance, coordination and knowing how to use his body ...," Robyn penned in the forthcoming message. "He would sit for hours setting up cars around the edge of a table or lining up his dinosaurs according to size. If anyone messed any of it up he would fall apart ..."
Luckily, school officials eventually were able to find a diagnosis.
"When Dayton was in 2nd grade, the school counselor and psychologist brought me in and told me that he wanted to do some tests on Dayton," Robyn penned. "... this was when I was told that Dayton has Asperger Syndrome."
And with a little help from Robyn, Dayton is now thriving. "Dayton just turned 18 and I celebrate the trials and triumphs. I have always spoken openly with Dayton about his Asperger Syndrome (AS) so he was armed with knowledge about how his brain works," Robyn gushed. "He challenges himself and his behaviors on a regular basis."
Many of the kids don't want a plural marriage
Throughout the years, some of the Sister Wives kids, like Maddie Brown and Logan, have been open about their desire to have a monogamous relationship instead of a polygamous one. But what about the other kids?
In a bit of surprising twist, Aspyn, Hunter, and Mykelti Brown also reject polygamy. Aspyn explained that while she feels "kind of bad" that she won't be a polygamist, it's just not for her (via In Touch), a sentiment which Mykelti wholeheartedly agrees with. And in the case of Hunter, he has a pretty hilarious take on the issue.
"I don't plan on having more than one wife — there's too much drama," he joked (via The Ashley's Reality Roundup).
The LDS church deeply hurt Maddie Brown's feelings
In 2015, Sister Wives touched on Maddie's failed attempt to get baptized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka LDS Church. Maddie, who self-identified as a mormon all of her life, hoped to get baptized so she could officially become a member of the LDS Church.
Unfortunately for Maddie, however, the LDS Church rejected her request due to her parents' polygamist lifestyle (the LDS Church banned polygamy more than 100 years ago, according to its website), and essentially showed her the door. The decision stung Maddie because she has no desire to adopt polygamy, according to InTouch, and due to the fact that it's kind of unfair to judge someone based on their family members' life choices.
And while Maddie put on a brave face when discussing the topic during a Sister Wives reunion episode, the situation hurt her more than she initially led viewers to believe.
"The LDS church rejecting me for my parents choices was one of the most devastating things I have been through," Maddie confessed via Twitter on October 11, 2015. Ouch.
Mariah Brown's mental health issues
Once Mariah made her relationship with Kriss official in early 2017, she appeared to be on top of the world. She shared a flurry of happy posts on social media celebrating her new love in the months following, and she seemed to project a happier vibe on Sister Wives. So, it might come as a shock to viewers that Mariah struggles with depression.
"... I've been really low lately. Winter is a hard time of year for me, hello seasonal depression. I feel pretty anxious all year long (which I deal with through therapy, self-care, yoga, etc) but winter comes along & I kind of feel worse," Mariah admitted in a December 12, 2017 post shared to Instagram. "These last couple weeks have really hit me hard & even in the midst of the happiness of the holidays, I find myself more & more exhausted each day, regardless of how much sleep I'm getting. It's been a few years now that I've been dealing with this & I'm still learning how to best take care of myself."
The good news? Mariah also admitted in the post that she's committed to finding strategies to deal with her anxiety.
Logan Brown isn't rushing into marriage
In September 2017, Logan announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend, Michelle Petty. Many fans were ecstatic about the news considering the pair knew each other for a total of five years and dated for three of them before taking things to the next level, according to People.
So, considering Logan took his sweet time with the engagement, one might assume that he's planning to get hitched sooner than later. Contrary to what some fans might suspect, however, Logan intends to hold off on walking down the aisle for a few years. Logan made the surprising admission when a fan on Twitter asked him when it would be his "turn" to say "I do."
"Haha I'm already engaged lol," Logan responded to the January 2018 message. "Marriage? Quite a while, 2020."
Of course, it's completely possible that Logan and Petty want to finish their master degree programs at the University of Las Vegas before they get married. Seems pretty sensible.
The seriousness of Ysabel Brown's health issue
Ysabel Brown, the daughter of Kody and Christine Brown, was diagnosed with scoliosis during season 12 of Sister Wives. The diagnosis was heartbreaking for Kody and Christine, to say the least, but it has been especially difficult for Ysabel.
Sadly, some viewers might not know that in January 2018, Ysabel's condition took a turn for the worse.
"Her curve has progressed even though she's wearing a brace," Christine said of Ysabel's unfortunate health update (via InTouch Weekly). "So the nighttime bracing is not working. Her curve is an aggressive curve. So not only is she wearing a nighttime brace, she also has to wear a daytime brace now — meaning that she has to wear her brace to school."
Kody himself also confirmed the upsetting news in a tweet from January 28, 2018. "One of those sad visits to the orthopedic surgeons' office," Kody captioned a photo of himself and Ysabel on Twitter.
And to make matters even more distressing, Ysabel finds her brace very burdensome. "Wearing the daytime brace is hard because I look bigger and I can't do as much and it's hard emotionally because... It's horrible wearing the daytime brace," she admitted (via InTouch Weekly). "It hurts all over, it [leaves] bruises and squeezes on me and it hurts. It's awful."
Aspyn Brown's unique love story
Aspyn is arguably one of the most low-key and quiet kids of the Sister Wives' brood. And because she is so reserved, fans don't know as much about her as they'd probably like to.
But following Aspyn's engagement to her longtime friend Mitch Thompson, however, she started to open up more about her personal life. In fact, Aspyn finally shared how she and Thompson first started dating in a January 2018 interview with People.
"We were raised in the same church group, and I had a little crush on him," Aspyn revealed to the outlet. "We went different directions until a rally some of my family attended in Utah, where we both happened to be. My dad's brother asked what ever happened between us, which was nothing, because neither of us did anything about it. So I decided to call him."
And as they say, the rest is history. So sweet, right?
Maddie Brown is sort of related to her husband
When Maddie and her now-husband, Caleb announced their engagement in September 2015, the news raised a few eyebrows. Why? Well, it turns out Maddie and Brush share a family tree. Yep, Maddie and Brush are sort of related. Talk about awkward.
It's important to point out, however, that Maddie and Brush aren't blood relatives. According to a report from Radar Online, Brush is the brother of Erica Brush Brown, who just so happens to be the widow of Kody's brother, Curtis Brown. Translation: Maddie is married to her aunt-in-law's brother.
And although Sister Wives totally glossed over this interesting connection, what we do know is that Curtis passed away in June 2013 from injuries he suffered in a motorcycle accident, according to the Billings Gazette, and that Brush and Maddie probably reconnected following the tragic incident.
Mariah Brown's liberal views
Many Sister Wives fans might be shocked to learn that Mariah holds extremely liberal views given her conservative background (Kody retweets Republican Sen. Rand Paul quotes all the time) and her past homophobic views.
"It was something I was so scared of in myself," she admitted about why she adopted an anti-LGBTQ stance as a teen, according to People. "If you were to ask me my biggest fear, it would have been to be gay."
Shortly after Mariah accepted her sexuality, however, she started to gravitate toward more liberal ideas and feminist ideals. And on January 21, 2018, Mariah penned a lengthy message on Instagram about her support of "the resistance" — aka the anti-President Donald Trump movement.
"A year ago today I was marching my ass off on Washington with some of my favorite feminists. I wasn't able to march (physically; will always march mentally) this year but the anniversary of one of my favorite days has me reminiscing over what I've done over the last year to make sure the fight didn't stop for me at the march ...," Mariah wrote. "I'm proud of my community & those who fight alongside me & for the amazing strides that have been made in the resistance over the last year. I will never stop marching for justice & equity, for gender equality, racial equality, for the chance that all people can succeed ..."