It’s officially over between Meri and Kody Brown.
After 33 years of marriage, Meri decided to part ways with Kody, but there was still more work to break free of their union.
Meri and Kody wed in the Mormon Church in 1990, and their religious beliefs deemed their marriage an eternal covenant.
In their faith, for their marriage to be over — although it was technically a spiritual marriage after Meri divorced Kody and he legally married Robyn in 2014 — a church leader must grant them a “release.”
Before being granted a release, the church requires counseling and meetings.
This season on Sister Wives, we learned that Meri sought a release, with or without Kody’s approval.
Meri is granted a marriage ‘release’ from Kody: ‘This is not what I wanted to do’
In a new preview of Sister Wives Season 19 Episode 5, Meri explains how she sought the release granted and how Kody reacted.
Meri reiterates that in 2014, she and Kody divorced so that he could legally marry Robyn and then adopt her three children from her previous marriage.
“But our spiritual marriage, our spiritual ceiling, was still intact,” Meri states. “When we marry, it is for eternity. That’s the intention.”
Meri traveled to Utah (from Flagstaff) to meet with church leaders, who agreed to grant her a release.
“I was granted what is called in our church a release, which is basically the equivalent of a divorce,” she explains.
And although Meri sought to terminate her marriage to Kody, she admits it wasn’t an easy decision.
“It was a very, very hard conversation, hard meaning heartbreaking because this is not what I wanted to do. This is not what I intended when I married Kody,” she said.
Meri says that when she married Kody, the intention was that they would be “sealed” for eternity.
“So, once I had that terminated or released, that means it’s done. Like, there’s no bound that keeps us together for eternity,” she added.
Kody didn’t respond to Meri when she announced she was pursuing a release
Meri said once she got the ball rolling, she reached out to Kody to let him know she had started the process of getting a release.
Meri asked Kody if he wanted to offer any input or have anything to do with the release, but he never responded to her text.
Earlier this season on Sister Wives, Meri revealed that Kody was resistant to the idea, mainly because he no longer abides by the faith.
“I don’t want to be accountable to this church and all their BS,” Kody confessed.
Kody agreed to “let Meri go,” revealing during a confessional, “I needed her just to go away because it just took forever for her to finally realize it’s been done and over for years.”
But Kody sang a different tune on Season 16 of Sister Wives when he declared, “The idea of divorce seems tragic, seems terrible on my faith. My belief system is kind of anti-divorce, I suppose.”
Season 19 of Sister Wives airs on Sundays at 10/9c on TLC.