Kody Brown and his four Sister Wives introduced audiences to their polygamist family in 2010. At the time, Kody's wives—Meri, Janelle, and Christine—were joined by Robyn, and collectively, Kody and his family came to include 18 children.
Over the years, Kody's efforts to spend time with his wives and children have been at the forefront of the show. Kody's marriages to Meri, Janelle, and Christine ultimately ended, and many of his children cut ties with their father, too.
The ups and downs of Kody's connections with his children have been full of emotion. The loss of his eldest son, Garrison, to suicide in March 2024 accompanies what appear to be insurmountable rifts with several of his other children. Here are the Brown children who no longer speak to Kody or are struggling to maintain any relationship with him.
| Sister Wife | Children |
| Meri | Leon (formerly Mariah) |
| Janelle | Garrison (d. 2024), Logan, Maddie, Hunter, Gabe, Savanah |
| Christine | Aspyn, Mykelti, Paedon, Gwendlyn, Ysabel, Truely |
| Robin | Dayton, Aurora, Breanna (all from her previous relationship), Solomon, Ariella |
7 Maddie Brush
Madison 'Maddie' Brush (nee Brown) cut ties with her father after her mother, Janelle, and Kody split in 2022. Maddie, now married with children of her own, said on her podcast, The Authentic Society, that she had "no contact with some of my family, and it's because of the stuff that has happened." She elaborated with respect to Kody, specifically:
[Kody] doesn’t have any respect for boundaries, and you have to play by his rules, and I just don’t care to do that... My dad would get very angry... one of the reasons that I went no contact [was] because it was like, he didn’t like a mirror being held up.... Some people just don't deserve to be in your life.
Sister Wives’ Maddie Brown Details Estranged Relationship With Dad Kody: Even Her Children Wouldn't "Recognize Him"
Maddie Brown is not interested in rekindling her relationship with her dad.
6 Gwendlyn Brown
Kody's daughter Gwendlyn was one of the Sister Wives children who talked openly about her sexuality on the show. Her mother, Christine, recalled when Meri's child Leon (formerly known as Mariah) came out as transgender and how, at that moment, she "thought oh so is Gwendlyn. I knew immediately."
Gwendlyn came out as bisexual and later got engaged to Beatriz Queiroz. Beatriz described Kody as "an interesting character. He's energetic and fun." She continued,
"I just, sometimes when he says certain things, I don't like it."
Gwendlyn, for her part, struggles to have a relationship with Kody. Gwendlyn explained that Kody "has changed," something she attributes to his inability to know how to talk to his children now that they have opinions and ideas of their own. She described their relationship as "flip-floppy," noting in 2023 that they don't see each other as much, which helps, but watching old episodes of Sister Wives makes her "dislike him a little bit."
5 Gabe Brown
Janelle and Kody Brown's son, Gabriel 'Gabe' Brown, gave his father an ultimatum if they were going to have a relationship:
"I told dad that if he doesn't change and he can't take accountability, then I just won't ever see him again. And I'm perfectly OK with that."
Kody had contacted Gabe and, after several exchanges, told his son "I forgive you. Please forgive me." Gabe wasn't sure what forgiveness his father gave him, but Janelle opined it had to do with a perceived mistreatment of Robyn's children.
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Christine's quickie marriage to David Woolley has been the subject of much fan chatter.
4 Paedon Brown
Paedon Brown believed his estrangement from his father was coming to an end in 2023 after Kody called him. Paedon told YouTuber John Yates (via Us Weekly),
"It’s like an hour-long conversation and it goes really, really well... And I’m like, ‘OK, I might be getting my father back. This is wonderful."
When Paedon told his mother, Christine about it, however, she explained what Kody's motivations for the call may have been. According to Christine, Kody was trying to negotiate contracts with TLC for his children that prevented them from saying anything "negative about him."
It became clear to Paedon that Kody didn't really want to talk to him but that he called him to try to protect his reputation.
3 Ysabel Brown
Ysabel Brown, daughter of Christine and Kody Brown, was visibly upset when she and her mother talked about Christine's new boyfriend (now husband) David Woolley in 2024. She was concerned that David would try to replace Kody in her life and explained,
"I worry... that my dad and the chance of having a really close relationship with my dad is slowly going away."
Ysabel and Kody have a strained relationship, exemplified by her comments that she would miss her mother more than her father when she went to college. She did note that they were not close but he was "still my dad."
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2 Truely Brown
After Truley Brown moved in with her mother, Christine, and now-husband David Woolley in 2023, Kody made it clear that he thought it was "inappropriate." Truely and Kody's relationship became strained after Christine and Kody split in 2021, something that happened to all of Christine's children with the Sister Wives patriarch.
When she found out about it, she "was extremely upset" but claimed she came to terms with it.
1 Savanah Brown
After Savanah Brown announced her engagement, it became clear that the daughter of Janellle and Kody Brown would have her brothers walk her down the aisle—not her father. Kody was also not invited to Savanah's graduation party. Kody talked about what he believed was behind the exclusion:
I’d like to be a part of Savanah’s life, but it’s like they’re in this collusion that seems to hate Robyn, and I don’t know why other than, well, they’re jealous... I’ve got this whole other side of the family that have decided that they’re still a family and we’re out. Now, they’ll let me in that club as long as I leave Robyn behind. I can’t do that.
Janelle also said "Kody is alienated from 90 to 95 percent of his children."
Sister Wives is a TV series created for TLC that follows Kody Brown and his four wives as they raise their eighteen children and tackle the challenges associated with their massive family dynamic and the stigma that comes with their way of life.
- Main Genre
- Reality
- Number of Episodes
- 167
- Seasons
- 16
- Cinematographer
- Doug Monroe, Callan Griffiths, Richard Alexander Walkling, Anthony Derosa, Matthew Thompson, Ray Farmer
- Distributor
- TLC
- Filming Locations
- Nevada, Utah, Arizona
- Main Characters
- Timothy Gibbons, Kirk Streb, Deanie Wilcher, Christopher Poole, Bill Hayes
- Producer
- Deanie Wilcher
- Production Company
- Puddle Monkey Productions, Figure 8 Films
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