Tragic Details About Sister Wives Star Kody Brown's 18 Kids

This article contains references to child abuse, anorexia and suicide.

America first met the Browns as a warm polygamous family on the hit TLC reality series, "Sister Wives." The show launched on Sunday, September 26, 2010, and during Season 1, patriarch Kody Brown introduced his would-be fourth wife, Robyn Brown. At the time, Kody was legitimately married to wife No. 1, Meri Brown, and was hitched to Janelle and Christine Brown through religious ties. He divorced Meri in order to officially marry Robyn. 

When "Sister Wives" debuted, the Browns were a family of 20. Christine was tasked with taking care of the day-to-day needs of their 16 children, as they shared on "The Joy Behar Show." The family welcomed two more children, Solomon Kody Brown and Ariella Mae Brown, born to Kody and Robyn in 2011 and 2016 respectively. 

Over the years, the Browns have experienced a handful of misfortunes, including losing close family members. Kody's brother Curtis Brown lost his life in a tragic motorcycle accident in June 2013. In March 2021, Meri's mother, Bonnie Ahlstrom, unexpectedly died at 76. Kody has since separated from his first three wives. His children, too, have had their fair share of unfortunate experiences.

On March 5, 2024, Janelle and Kody Brown's son Garrison Brown was found dead at the family's Arizona home. Janelle announced Garrison's death in an emotional Instagram post, writing in part, "He was a bright spot in the lives of all who knew him. His loss will leave such a big hole in our lives that it takes our breath away." According to police reports, Garrison had sent final messages to several employees of the Brown family before his unexpected death, writing (via E!), "I want to hate you for sharing the good times. But I can't. I miss these days." The 25-year-old was laid to rest at the Penrose Cemetery in Wyoming. 

Two months after his death, People reported that Garrison had succumbed to an injury from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Garrison was also reportedly inebriated at the time of his death, with blood alcohol levels that were way past the set limit.

In the wake of Garrison's death, his biological sister, Madison Rose Brush, acknowledged sympathy messages she'd received from her fanbase. Brush shared a sentimental Instagram post on March 18, 2024, that highlighted the lessons she'd learned while navigating grief. She further encouraged her audience to take care of their mental health.

Truely Brown's severe illness was the subject of Season 6, Episode 16 of "Sister Wives." Truely's mother, Christine Brown, took her to the hospital because she appeared sluggish, and upon suspicion that Truely had kidney failure, the then three-year-old was taken to the ER, where she he was admitted for 11 days.

While Truely was in the hospital, her stepmom, Robyn Brown, described her treatment process to her half-sister, Aurora Brown. Robyn explained (via TLC), "They did dialysis and they cleaned out her blood and everything and made it better so that her kidneys could have a break." The mother of five then admitted that she'd watered down the real nature of Truely's sickness. 

Despite the worrying state of her health, Truely eventually recovered. In a 2023 Instagram post, Christine looked back at two drawings she made when Truely was hospitalized — one showed a sketch of Truely undergoing dialysis, while the other showed her "healthy at home and going to Disneyland." Christine recalled, "I told her soon as she was better and we got home, and she was healthy, we would go to Disneyland. That was the day she started to get better. So glad I kept these pictures to remind me of miracles."

Gwendlyn Brown, Kody and Christine Brown's fourth child, opened up about her weight loss struggles in a series of now-deleted November 2020 tweets (via Reddit). She began to loathe exercise in her childhood because she was "constantly told I needed to lose weight." "I was a fat kid and actually developed anorexia at a v young age bc of this," Gwendlyn continued, "Now I have a bad relationship w food but I'm skinny." Gwendlyn tweeted she was targeted by bullies from preschool to second grade as she tried to lose baby fat. 

Her tweets went viral, and when she learned that she was being attacked by critics, she tweeted in part, "I use humor as a coping mechanism and I was a fat/anorexic kid; there's no other way to put it. You have no right to vilify my truth and no right to tell me how to cope w my pain" (via The Sun).

In a now-deleted blog post made on her website, My Sister Wife's Closet, Robyn Brown revealed that her son Dayton Brown, whom she shares with ex-husband David Jessop, struggled with "balance, coordination and knowing how to use his body" in his childhood (via Yahoo). Robyn wrote, "When he was excited, he would flap his arms and jump around the room. He would sit for hours setting up cars around the edge of a table or lining up his dinosaurs according to size. If anyone messed any of it up, he would fall apart." She added that Dayton was formally diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in the second grade.  

Over the years, Robyn has educated the public on Asperger's Syndrome, which she described in her blog post as "a high functioning form of Autism." In a 2014 tweet, she revealed that the term "Aspie" was a gentle word for a person who's diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. And in a March 2018 Instagram post, Robyn asked her followers to learn as much as they could about Asperger's Syndrome in order to be more empathetic toward people who live with it.

Kody and Christine Brown's daughter, Mykelti Brown, accused Kody's ex-wife, Meri Brown, of abuse. In a video posted on Patreon in January 2023, Mykelti said (via Katie Paulson), "I don't remember Meri being physically abusive to me. She was very emotionally and verbally abusive to all of us when we were younger, until ... I think we got old enough and she stopped because...we were able to fight back, or something?" Mykelti further revealed that she was singled out amongst the Brown siblings and experienced the worst treatment.

Mykelti isn't the only child who has been vocal about Meri's alleged abuse. In a tell-all interview with John Yates, Paedon Brown said his childhood with Meri was pretty dark. "Meri was not nice ... abrasive is not enough of a word to explain what Meri was to a few of us children specifically," Paedon shared. He also confirmed that Madison Rose Brush's now-deleted 2019 subtweets that referenced abuse were directed at Meri. One tweet read, "There is nothing like dealing with an abusive human your whole life and finally having the freedom to not have anything to do with her."

Ysabel Brown's struggle with scoliosis was documented on Season 12 of "Sister Wives." Ysabel's diagnosis was first discovered when she was in middle school. Over the years, she sought different methods of stabilization. First, Ysabel wore a nighttime brace, and when her condition worsened, she had to wear a brace during the day. "Wearing a daytime brace is hard..umm...because I look bigger and I can't do as much," an emotional Ysabel expressed in a "Sister Wives" confessional. 

Ysabel then enrolled in a scoliosis boot camp, through which she took various exercises that were meant to progressively restructure her spine. The boot camp effectively decreased the curvature from 45 to 35 degrees. Ysabel still had to put on a torso trainer every day, but that approach restricted her social life. The family eventually settled on their last option — surgery.

During a December 2021 episode of "Sister Wives," Kody declined to accompany Ysabel and Christine to New Jersey for surgery due to his own COVID-19 restrictions. Kody's absence broke Ysabel's heart. "I think his priorities are a little screwed up," Ysabel said in a confessional (via People). "And l don't want to disrespect him because he is my dad and I understand, I do." Nevertheless, Ysabel's surgery was successful. A year afterward, she said it was "totally worth it" in an Instagram Stories (via Screen Rant), post, because she "never felt so pain free and in control of my own body."

Mykelti Brown and her husband, Tony Padron, announced new additions to their family of three in an August 2022 Instagram post. "Tony and I are expecting twin BOYS on December 1st, but they're twins so really we're thinking before Thanksgiving," Brown partly wrote. "It was the last thing we both expected for both of them to be boys."

The Padrons held an online gender reveal on Zoom, despite ongoing family battles, as it was later revealed in a November 2023 episode of "Sister Wives." Their twin boys, Archer Banks Padron and Ace McCord Padron were born on November 17, 2022. An excited Brown told People, "I'm so happy my boys are finally here and we're all doing well."

Although Brown was excited to be a mom, she did not have a joyful pregnancy. On a September 2024 episode of "Sister Wives," Brown, who was pregnant during filming, said she wasn't looking forward to reliving the experience. "I'm ready to be done," she disclosed (via People). "This is the last time I will ever be pregnant again ... Pregnancy is miserable. It is literally awful." Brown added that she would like to have more children, but she wouldn't give birth to them.

Gabriel Brown's estrangement from Kody Brown was chronicled during a December 2022 episode of "Sister Wives." After Kody, Robyn Brown, and their children were diagnosed with COVID-19, he called Gabriel, whom he fathered with Janelle Brown, to obtain more information about the viral infection. Gabriel, who previously healed from COVID-19, narrated (via Entertainment Tonight), "Dad calls me, and we have a small discussion about how bad my Covid was. I shouldn't have done this, but I did anyway: I didn't remind him that it was my birthday because I wanted to see if he remembered. And he didn't." Gabriel sobbed his heart out afterward and revealed he wasn't in contact with Kody anymore.

Sadly, Gabriel isn't the only child who's cut off his dad. In an October 2023 episode of "Sister Wives," Kody revealed that he'd been alienated by his daughter, Madison Rose Brush. According to the father of 18, they stopped talking after his 2021 divorce from Christine Brown. The chances of Kody's reconciliation with some of his children and ex-wives are slim.

Although Paedon and Gwendlyn Brown are biological siblings—they are Kody and Christine Brown's children—they do not get along. In March 2022, Paedon admitted via a TikTok live session that he once hit Gwendlyn. "Many years ago, I messed up," Paedon told his followers. "I slapped Gwen .. Some words were exchanged, and I took it too far, and I slapped her. And, she thinks that I might do it again and she's scared of me...It hurts me knowing that my sister thinks I want to hurt her." 

In a separate TikTok video posted the following month, Paedon defended himself after facing backlash for his confession. He said that, contrary to the belief that he had overpowered Gwendlyn during their fight because she was less strong, she was "a badass and a beast." Paedon revealed that he apologized to Gwendlyn, but she chose to distance herself from him. 

The duo's sibling rivalry extended well into January 2023. After Paedon accused Meri Brown of abuse in his interview with John Yates, Gwendlyn called him out in a video posted on Patreon. "He is still the sexist, homophobic, transphobic, racist, violent abuser that he always has been for several years," Gwendlyn said (via All About the Tea). "He's the most awful person I've ever had the displeasure of knowing and I would strongly advise against taking anything he says as fact."

In his interview with John Yates, Paedon Brown revealed that his father, Kody Brown, was a source of security and protection for his children when they were growing up. Kody only lost his temper once throughout Paedon's childhood—when a bunk bed dropped on his brother Garrison."I was absolutely raised by a good man," Paedon said, and continued, "We were always safe with him. He was always safe with us."

Paedon disclosed that Kody's demeanor took a turn for the worse in 2013, following his uncle Curtis Brown's fatal motorcycle accident. "Sometime between 12 and 15 [years old], he stopped being safe," Paedon shared. "It happened after Curtis died, before we all moved in together ... Curtis' death changed him."

The Brown children and their dad grew more disconnected as time went by, and it didn't help that they eventually lived separately. During Season 17 of "Sister Wives," Kody said he was closer to Robyn Brown and her children because she "communicates, and her children communicate." Gwendlyn Brown reacted to the episode on her YouTube channel by saying, "It's easy to communicate when you live in the same house and you constantly see your father."

Leon Brown is Kody and Meri Brown's only child. Over the years, Leon, who used to go by the first name Mariah, has had major life transitions. They came out as transgender in a June 2022 Instagram post, and walked down the aisle with their partner, Audrey Kriss, in a low-key courthouse wedding in October 2022. On Season 17, Episode 9 of "Sister Wives," Kody remarked that Leon, alongside their siblings Paedon, Dayton, and Breanna Brown, didn't "fit in well with the rest of the family."

When Gwendlyn reacted to the episode, revealing that Leon had distanced themselves from the Brown family for their emotional well-being. "The only one in the family that has been separated by something outside of their control is Paedon, and that's for a good reason," Gwendlyn said, "Leon has given themselves space for their emotional health, and Robyn's kids are separated because of her own doing."

Christine Brown announced that she and Kody Brown had ended their years-long relationship in November 2021. In a statement posted on Instagram, she assured her followers that they would still be part of each other's lives as co-parents. In an October 2022 episode of "Sister Wives," Truely Brown disclosed that her conversation with Kody about the divorce was extremely short. "I haven't really talked to dad a lot about the divorce," Truely shared. "He just basically told me, like, 'Um...you found out about the divorce,' and I was like 'Yeah, I'm fine with it.'"

Naturally, the Browns had to figure out Truely's future. Kody told Christine that if they didn't have a custody agreement, the state was going to take Truely, but he later admitted that he'd made up that claim. Christine and Truely eventually relocated to Utah. According to Christine, the move was essential in order to salvage the relationship between Truely and her father. Christine also moved on from Kody and began dating David Woolley, even though she admitted that it wasn't easy.

In September 2024, In Touch Weekly broke the news that Christine had taken Kody to court over child support and the custody of Truely. Per the publication, Truely's paternity was in question, since Kodys' name didn't appear on her birth certificate.

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