Sister Wives: Kody the Idiot Divorces Meri to Marry Robyn

[Mama Mia]

does this lend credence to the Browns being full of it?

http://www.childbrides.org/politics_sun ... _case.html

wonder if that stood...

I don't see how it would mean much one way or the other to the Browns? That case mentions " relatives" not the children's biological father. That's all the difference in the world right there. Plus the fact that he had never legally married the children's mother could have been a large part of why it went through the whole extensive court process in the first place. I would assume the Browns would like to avoid that if possible.

From the people I know who have done a step-parent adoption there hasn't been some big investigation into the home and personal life and a court trial.The experience they had was basically filling out a ton of forms, checking all the boxes - including the box that says the person adopting is the spouse. Tracking down the absent parent and getting him to sign the form. Paying for someone to look at the house - which was just a basic safety check. Submitting all the forms and money. The adoption hearing itself was just a nice ceremonial event for the parents and kids. I'm not sure if it was in public court, or in an office. From what I heard they conducted it almost like a mini- wedding. Dressed nicely. Judge had parents and kids affirm they wanted to be together. Pronounced them family and gave them an official certificate . That was it.

I would think the Browns hope it goes something like that. And the more little stability boxes that are checked, the more likely they are to avoid any drawn out battle.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I also wish they would get a host who has a clue about polygamy. This one never asks the right questions. We are always left confused.

[Nic]

Well, according to Robyn, she had to hire a babysitter because all of the adults are working at the same time. As for the other families with littles, they also have older kids who can look after them. Plus, I think they are all at least in school except for Sol, so he may be the only one that needs watching during the school day.

Exactly they have older kids that could watch. Of if it's during school hours... IDK, I was under the impression that one of the benefits of polygamy relationships is that support. Also it's a home based business so doesn't that provide flexibility?

[BrownieMomma]

Robyn is NEVER going to ask Christine and Janelle for help. Whatever sort of sisterly relationship Meri, Janelle and Christine shared when their oldest kids were babies is never going to happen for Robyn.

Despite all her tears, Robyn strikes me as selfish and out for Robyn. I think she befriended Meri as she sensed Meri had the best relationship with Kody, and Robyn doesn't seem to give two hoots about befriending Janelle and/or Christine.

Meri is not a real threat to Robyn, because popping out kids is what matters. Meri didn't, and won't. Janelle and Christine popped out a phalanx of kiddos for Kody, and Robyn is competitive about it.

Dollar to a donut Robyn is pushing hard for Kody to adopt her kids because that gives her more plyg cred. Robyn wants to be the top dog, whereas Janelle and Christine always accepted Meri in that role.

I think Robyn will throw anyone under the bus on the way to getting what she wants. She is going to shove the kids to Kody to play daddy, and never mind the true effect on her children for loss of relationship with their father.

[patsymae]

A few things people have said are starting to click for me now (although I'm still not sure this isn't some combination of financial scam/FU Christine). Kody has the hots only for Sobyn, has history and fondness for Meri, is a buddy with Janelle, who also is the only person in the whole mess with a functioning brain, and yes, I agree, barely tolerates Christine.

Sobyn was, or put on a show as being, intensely upset when Meri was going to go back to school and thus not devote her life to SWC (I think the health-crap ponzi scheme is their real source of income, BTW). How can I have another baby when I have to devote so much time to SWC without the help of the other women, especially Meri.

Kody says he wants more children; in fact, he tells Meri on camera that he is going to have more children.

So Sobyn (stupid as a rock, but stupid people can be very shrewd) asserts that no way can she breed more Browns unless she and her other children have legal financial security. No legal marriage, no more little Browns. She and Meri are BFFs so trust each other with whatever agreement they come up with. Plus, Meri's only child is a legal adult, and she appears to be capable of earning a living if she wants to, so having Sobyn the Pitiful in charge of the family's money isn't going to affect her the way it would for...oh, the other 12 children.

I don't know if Robyn's husband abused her or not (and this is said by someone who was dumb enough to marry a guy who knocked out 3 of her teeth and put out a lit cigarette in her neck, among other things--took a while to get up and go (another story), but just mentioned so that you don't think I'm at all unsympathetic to abused women--it's exactly the opposite.) But Sobyn comes across to me as a very manipulative woman: Poli Sci 101: if it doesn't make sense, ask who benefits.

There's always the "eternity" thing, and maybe I and other FJers don't really get the full impact of that on true believers--if we did we likely wouldn't be here--but here on the earthly plane, who benefits from this? Certainly not Janelle or Christine. Who, at least in the TV version, just got told this had already happened without discussion with them--hows that for a fine howdy do?

Sobyn the Pitiful who has demonstrated total failure to step up to the plate and provide for the three children she had, and who hooked on to the Brown/TLC gravy train, gets legal wife status, the financial rewards that come with that (and I suspect they are substantial, if questionable), and, if I'm right, will starting breeding Kody's "more children" soon.

Janelle is pissed, and at least from what has been shown on TV, conflicted. She has done the "rocks in the tumbler" come out smooth thing, also said that all people do what they feel will make them closer to God, then said at other times that she has considered leaving but wouldn't do so while her children were young as she wants them to have to the end what she gave them in the beginning.

Poor Christine, who actually irks the hell out of me, still believes it is incumbent upon her to be a good "sister wife." Has said that she examines herself in terms of has she been a good sister wife today?

What a perfect target for Sobyn.

[toejamflipflop]

A couple of my chemo nurses and aides said they read where Robyns Ex was suing Robyn for full custody of his kids because she has been living in sin with kody all these years and had a baby out of wedlock with kody. The ex is claiming Robyn was a bad example as a mother. They are Sister Wives Groupies who hate Meri and Robyn. I wish I knew where they read that. I think that would be more of a reliable story than the regrouping story turned adoption story.

[eri]

I don't think Robyn is a terribly reliable narrator. She has a huge agenda. Are there any court documents that prove or even allege David Jessop abused his wife? Other people stepping forward to validate? (I am honestly asking. I don't know). As far as I know, Robyn never detailed the abuse - was it because David is poor and she had to live in a lousy trailer? I guess I am just less likely to trust people who sell their lives on TV.

Haha, okay, well if you want to read into it. I'm just going of first-hand accounts, really. You can judge or presume as you wish though! I won't stop you.

However as with all things on FJ, if you have an opinion that contradicts existing evidence, nobody is obligated to consider it seriously.

[nelliebelle1197]

You have no evidence other than a couple of statements from Robyn. When considering what constitutes "evidence", the reliability of the person offering the testimony is quite important; it fact, it is often the defining element in admissibility.

However, about half the things speculated about on FJ are done without evidence, so I don't know what forum you have been reading. I also don't know what in my reply - an opinion in response to another -deserved the attitude in yours.

[Georgiana]

This is really the tale of the Browns who Cried Wolf.

So many times over the years, we have seen the adults in the Brown family misconstrue events and omit key details to the point where their stories are basically lies.

Now, they ask us to trust them and believe a story for which they provide no evidence. And while there is no evidence to the contrary, many of us simply cannot believe what they say anymore.

[Nic]

Something that stands out to me re Robyns credibility is when she was talking about the hurdles/ battles re. the adoption process. She said something like we don't know what the ex's reaction is going to be. If he wants to exercise his visitation rights, then fine, we wont stand in his way.

Wait what?

If he is abusive, why would they want the kids with him? She could've said supervised visitation or something, but she didn't seem to express any discomfort at the idea of her kids spending time with her abuser.

Couple this with Kody's creative use of being in jeopardy in the past (you know the we need to escape UT in thick of night) I just wonder.

[DaffyDill]

Took the thought right out of my head Nic.

Why, if he is so abusive, would Robyn be critical of David Jessop's NOT spending visitation time with his children? What mother would happily pack her kids off to spend holidays with an abusive man?

So maybe he isn't abusive, but has just wiped his hands of his own children, as some shitty parents do. Or maybe not - it's all a bit odd.

By the way, how could Robyn take his children to live out of the state without his permission? (That's if my geography is correct and Lehi was in Utah, and Las Vegas in Nevada). Did he give permission? Or just she just flee during the night, children in tow?

I just don't get these people.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

He either gave permission for them to move or else a judge allowed the move - either way he got visitation. I'm surprised they when went through the courts at all. Their culture is so private.

I tried to do some sleuthing on the bio dad but it was just too hard. Too many Jessops living in Pinesdale, MT for me to research. I found a couple of his siblings but they offered nothing. I find all of these little polygamist enclaves fascinating.

[Bethella]

If David Jessop lives in Pinesdale, MT then Robyn probably got permission to move the kids (either from him or from the judge) well before her marriage to Kody. While they were courting she was living in St. George, UT. So that's at least three major out-of-Montana moves since her divorce.

[nelliebelle1197]

Something that stands out to me re Robyns credibility is when she was talking about the hurdles/ battles re. the adoption process. She said something like we don't know what the ex's reaction is going to be. If he wants to exercise his visitation rights, then fine, we wont stand in his way.

Wait what?

If he is abusive, why would they want the kids with him? She could've said supervised visitation or something, but she didn't seem to express any discomfort at the idea of her kids spending time with her abuser.

Couple this with Kody's creative use of being in jeopardy in the past (you know the we need to escape UT in thick of night) I just wonder.

She has started to say something about how there'd be no more child support!

[nelliebelle1197]

If David Jessop lives in Pinesdale, MT then Robyn probably got permission to move the kids (either from him or from the judge) well before her marriage to Kody. While they were courting she was living in St. George, UT. So that's at least three major out-of-Montana moves since her divorce.

It also depends on the state and their custody arrangement. Some states don't prevent the custodial parent from moving where ever. My best friend can't move more than 2 counties away in her state while my cousin's ex only has to notify him then pay all the expenses to get the kids to the father for visitation. Neither of those arrangements are unique to the case but rather based in state-level statute.

[gustava]

As I've stated on another forum, I think both Robyn and Mariah are pregnant.

[snarkykitty]

As I've stated on another forum, I think both Robyn and Mariah are pregnant.

I've had some weird inklings about them as well, that either Meri is pregnant (hence the source of her dizziness, otherwise, why mention it if you're not going to pursue it), or Meri agreed to let Robyn carry her baby.

I guess time will tell.

[Rachel333]

As I've stated on another forum, I think both Robyn and Mariah are pregnant.

Did you mean Meri? Whether it's Meri or Mariah, though, I'm interested to see why you think that. I'm only just now starting the episode, though.

Robyn wouldn't surprise me at all. I'm actually kind of surprised it's been this long since Solomon.

[Becket70]

Whether this whole divorce/marriage/adoption thing is real or just a ploy for attention, it seems to have worked. The ratings were way up for Sister Wives on Sunday. They must be jumping for joy right now, as is TLC. The question, of course, is whether they can maintain higher ratings in the next season. I fear we are in for more "drama", real or imagined.

[Rachel333]

I fear we are in for more "drama", real or imagined.

More divorces! Or a fifth wife! Four concurrent pregnancies!

[Buzzard]

Have all 3 of Robyn's kids been on the show? For some reason I thought she had 2 and the baby.

[Rachel333]

Have all 3 of Robyn's kids been on the show? For some reason I thought she had 2 and the baby.

They have, but Dayton wasn't really on the show for a while and they haven't showed the two girls enough for me to be able to tell them apart.

[FundieFarmer]

It's possible Robyn is entirely uneducated about the divorce process and its relation to her children based on her upbringing. Carolyn Jessop and her children tell of terrible abuse during her marriage to Merril Jessop (now of YFZ Ranch administration), and yet due to poor legal counsel Carolyn thought she had to allow her children to visit him if she were to be portrayed as a good and reasonable mother, in order to ultimately gain full custody. She let them return to him several times, all with catastrophic outcomes, until a new lawyer put a stop to it. She paid the consequences for following this advice later in court, when her custody petition wasn't as strong. The legal world can be tricky, so if he truly is abusive, maybe Robyn is operating under the same (illogical) assumption that allowing visitation portrays her as reasonable and fair, rather than neglectful and not protective.

Though I find it hard to imagine them having such terrible counsel with TLC funds at their side. Then again, Meri's lawyer did seem a bit derpy at times.

[DugFan]

More divorces! Or a fifth wife! Four concurrent pregnancies!

How about just addressing the Meri/Janelle issue? Talk about potential drama! And not just Meri scowling at the camera and Janelle saying she'll get around to it next year. (Or maybe that's the next-season setup)

[Nic]

He either gave permission for them to move or else a judge allowed the move - either way he got visitation. I'm surprised they when went through the courts at all. Their culture is so private.

I tried to do some sleuthing on the bio dad but it was just too hard. Too many Jessops living in Pinesdale, MT for me to research. I found a couple of his siblings but they offered nothing. I find all of these little polygamist enclaves fascinating.

I do too! Fascinating fascinating off the gridy type people. He wasn't living the lifestyle right? Maybe he's got a collection of wives now.

I wonder how much the courts were involved in their divorce. She supposedly left the marriage $30k in debt. Who knows they could've gotten a divorce kit or one of those legal paper preparer places to do it. She talks about how he doesn't pay child support. Does this mean none wasf ordered or he hasn't paid but she hasn't pushed it or she's garnished his wages, but he works for cash at whatever he does so she can't collect?