Kody Brown is the patriarch of the popular TLC show Sister Wives. The show follows the lives of the Brown family as they navigate the complexities of plural marriage. Kody has often been accused of favoring one wife over the others. Recently, fans have pointed out that he also seems to favor certain children over others. His relationships with his children are quite tumultuous; he is estranged from some and has minimal involvement with others. Conversely, there are some children with whom he shares a close bond. This raises a complicated question: why is he closer to some children while being estranged from others? There are many factors at play in this dynamic. Keep reading to find out what fans have to say about these stark contrasts.
Kody Brown Has Complex Relationships With His Children
Kody Brown has a total of 18 children with his four wives, which includes one transgender child, seven sons, and ten daughters. Kody’s first wife, Meri, gave birth to their only child, Leon Brown, who is transgender and uses they/them pronouns. With his second wife, Janelle, Kody has six children: sons Garrison, Logan, Hunter, and Gabriel, as well as daughters Madison and Savannah. Kody’s third wife, Christine, is the mother of six children: son Paedon and daughters Aspyn, Mykelti, Gwendlyn, Ysabel, and Truely. Lastly, Kody’s fourth wife, Robyn, has five children: sons Dayton and Solomon and daughters Aurora, Breanna, and Ariella. Three of Robyn’s children are from her previous marriage.
Kody Brown navigates a complex web of relationships with his children, characterized by varying degrees of connection. Some of his children are quite distant, leading to estrangement. Others experience only minimal involvement from Kody in their lives. In contrast, there are a few children with whom he has cultivated a strong, close bond, highlighting the intricate dynamics within his family. Brown says that he didn’t abandon his estranged kids but that they betrayed him. He has stated that his children have “shut him out,” treated him with “contempt,” and are “colluding against (him).” Kody has become estranged from his daughters, Maddie and Ysabel, and his sons, Gabriel and Garrison, before Garrison’s passing.
Kody Brown Favors His Male Children Over His Female Children
Fans believe that Kody Brown tends to favor certain children. Many took to Reddit to express their views on Kody’s relationship with his children, suggesting that he shows a preference for his male children over his female ones. Additionally, Kody seems to favor the wives who have more male children. On the show Sister Wives, viewers can observe Kody showing more attention to his wife, Janelle, and her children compared to his wife, Christine, and her kids. Janelle has four male children, while Christine has only one. Christine often has to ask Kody to spend more time at her home instead of Janelle’s. Fans said:
- “Janelle has two girls, but I do think he still favored the boys, and by him just being around, the girls received some attention, too, so she did not see it as Christine did. Plus I read somewhere that Paedon spent a lot of time with Janelle’s boys so he probably received more attention because of that than his sisters did. I do think a lot of the unfairness was because he viewed his marriage with Christine as less than and it put a strain on his relationship with those daughters. Kody is petty enough to do something like this.”
- “Kody is there for Sol’s bottle rot dental surgery (which is a completely avoidable ailment that stems from poor child caretaking), but he can’t be there for Ysabel’s spine surgery (which was a biological condition she was born with and no amount of good/bad parenting could fix).”
Kody Brown was available for his male child, while he was not there for his female child. He spends significantly more time with his male children, leading fans to accuse him of favoritism for the male children. In addition, Gwen Brown shared in a YouTube video details about Kody’s relationship with his male children. It is reported that Gwen said, “Gabe and Garrison were upset because their relationship with Kody was breaking down. She said that all the males fail to realize that this is how the relationship has always been between the female children and Kody.” It seems that Gwen believes that her father has always had poor relationships with the female children in the Brown family. While the male children had favorable relationships with their father.
