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Meri Brown explains raising the Browns’ kids differently than the culture in which she was raised

Meri and Mariah Brown of Sister Wives
Meri and Mariah Brown of Sister Wives. Pic credit: TLC

Meri talked about how she raised her kids differently than she was raised in a clip that was released by People earlier this week.

It opens with many of the family members gathered in Meri’s house engaging in a group hug.

Meri says about daughter Mariah and her fiancée, Audrey, “I love that they have that experience of living in Chicago. And it’s just a fun and different experience.”

She added that it wasn’t something she was ever able to do. “I came from a different culture than what we tried to create for our kids.”

“You need to get married when you’re young,” she says of the culture she grew up in. “And you need to have kids, and you need to be quiet about who you are and you just need to just stay in this little box.”

The Browns raised their children to do whatever they want to do

Meri says they tried to create an environment that says, “You can do whatever you want to do” and says daughter Mariah is doing just that.

It’s revealed in the preview that Mariah and Audrey are moving from Chicago to Salt Lake, Utah, much closer to the family.

Pics of Meri and Kody’s wedding day, and early pics of the family are displayed in the background as Meri describes her earlier life. Meri’s father took his first plural wife when she was 11 years old.

Young Meri Brown and family of Sister Wives
A young Meri Brown in the first pic. Kody holding Logan with Meri holding Mariah, Janelle holding Maddie, and Christine holding Aspyn, in their early years in the second pic. Pic credit: TLC

Christine is on the confessional couch and adds her two cents about Mariah and Audrey, saying, “They’re just a good couple. They communicate well with each other.”

Kody’s third wife, Christine, goes on to say Mariah and Audrey give and take and make it a “true partnership.” She talks about how the big decision to move to Chicago might not have been ideal for both, saying her opinion was that Mariah liked the idea of moving a lot more than Audrey did of them, but they found a way to work through that.

Christine stressed that they did whatever was necessary to make it work so that both partners were happy, saying that was “an incredible move for a couple to make.” Christine speculates which of their kids would move to Salt Lake next and jokes that it would be her, with a laugh. 

Mariah is Kody Brown’s third child and Meri and Kody’s only biological daughter. She came out as gay to the family in 2017 and TLC was there to capture the momentous event. Her family was very supportive of her, somewhat shockingly to viewers who knew their religion denounced being gay.

Mariah had a change of heart about plural marriage

Mariah had previously said she wanted to be a plural wife like her moms, and was deeply invested in their church while the family still lived in Utah.

Meri’s daughter struggled for years with her sexuality largely in part because the family’s religion didn’t approve of being gay, but her family was supportive.

She is quoted as saying, “I remember being in church, and they talked about how being gay was bad. But none of that came from my parents. It was from the church and the people I was around. One bishop told me gay people were selfish.”

Mariah began dating fiancée, Audrey in 2017. The two got engaged at the Women’s March in D.C. two years after they met.

Kody’s four wives paid a visit to Mariah and Audrey in Chicago, and it was documented on the show.

Fans are curious to see if more of Mariah and Audrey’s story will play out this season on the show.

Sister Wives airs on Sundays at 10/9c on TLC.

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