Meri Brown: Everything You Want To Know About This Sister Wife

The TLC network has some pretty wild shows, but one of the craziest has got to be Sister Wives. The show is a rare look inside of a polygamist family: one husband, four wives, and a combined 18 children between them. It's so far from what we consider "normal" that it's hard not to watch! And while the show is clearly written and edited to show as much drama as possible, the stars have been living this lifestyle for several years, so it's probably comfortable for them at this point. But while we tend to focus on the salacious details, like who sleeps where and with whom, it's easy to forget that these are real people, and this is their real life. So what's their real story? Meri Brown is one of the stars is Sister Wives, and Kody Brown's first wife. She's been through a lot in her marriage to Kody, and has remained by his side through it all. If you find her story as intriguing as we do, here's everything you want to know about the original sister wife, Meri Brown.

Meri Brown was born into polygamy.

Meri Brown was born on January 16, 1971, in Alameda, California. Her parents, William Barber, Jr. and Bonnie Barber, were practicing polygamists, so Meri grew up in the lifestyle. She has four sisters and two brothers, but these are only full siblings; due to her father's practice of polygamy, it's possible there are more half-siblings out there who haven't been identified. Interestingly, one of her brothers was married to Janelle Schriever, who ended up "spiritually" marrying Kody Brown in 1993. So Meri and Janelle were sisters-in-law before they were sister wives!

Meri was just 18 when she first met Kody Brown - they were introduced by one of his sisters. They hit it off, and were married in 1990. Kody's spiritual marriage to Janelle came in 1993, he "spiritually" married Christine Allred in 1994, and then legally married Robyn Jessop in 2014. So Meri and Kody had just a few years of marriage to one another before they branched out.

Meri Brown struggled with fertility.

When Meri and Kody got married, they planned on having eight kids together. But fertility struggles greatly affected their dreams. The couple only one have one biological child together - Mariah, born in 1995. They kept trying for more kids together, but were unable to conceive. In 2008, Meri did get pregnant, but it ended in miscarriage. Sadly, despite being married to Kody the longest, Meri wasn't the first of his wives to have a child; Janelle gave birth to son Logan in 1994, and Christine gave birth to Aspyn a few months before Mariah was born.

After years of infertility, Robyn Brown (sister wife #4) offered to act as a surrogate for Meri and Kody. While Meri was excited about the possibility of having another biological child, Kody ultimately decided it would be too uncomfortable for the family, and the surrogacy never came to fruition.

Meri and Kody Brown are no longer legally married.

For several years, Meri Brown was the only legal wife of Kody Brown. His marriages to Janelle and Christine were considered "spiritual" in nature, so they were able to all live together as husband and wives, but Janelle and Christine had none of the legally binding ties to Kody that Meri did. However, in 2014, Meri and Kody divorced so that he could legally marry Robyn and adopt her three children from a previous marriage. They were legally married for over 24 years, but remain spiritually married and involved in the polygamist relationship with Janelle, Christine, and Robyn.

Things were complicated further in 2015, when Meri fell victim to a catfishing scheme. She became involved in an online romance with who she believed was a man named Sam Cooper. In reality, Sam Cooper was actually a woman named Jackie Overton, who went on to write a book about their six-month affair.

Being on Sister Wives may have cost Meri Brown her job!

When the show first premiered, Meri Brown was working as a counselor at a mental health facility in Utah. Her supervisor was aware of her unusual personal life, and didn't seem to have a problem with it. But once it became public knowledge with the premiere of Sister Wives, Meri was fired from her position. Meri says her supervisor was concerned that her unconventional lifestyle would have an impact on his business.

But Meri bounced back, and is currently pretty high up in the LulaRoe world! She also owns and operates a bed and breakfast called Lizzie's Heritage Inn. The home was the family's home for four generations, and was built by her great-great-grandparents in 1870.

Meri initially had a hard time with her daughter coming out as a lesbian.

Meri and Kody's daughter Mariah Brown came out in 2017. Kody and the other sister wives seemed to handle the news well, but Meri struggled with accepting her daughter's sexuality. At the time Meri said, "I always kind of thought, well, you know, since I never had a son I'll be able to kind of adopt Mariah's husband into, you know, kind of being a son, and I looked forward to seeing who that was gonna be, you know. And that's not gonna happen!" She said she was surprised by the revelation, and wondered how Mariah could have kept this from her family.

But things seem to be going much better for the family - Mariah got engaged to her girlfriend Audrey Kriss in 2019, and Meri regularly spends time with her daughter and soon-to-be daughter-in-law.